Venificus Venenum
by ShinigamiAkira7
Summary: Modern-ish AU with lots of twists. Usually, when the Magic Society and Muggles clash, it doesn't always end up good. This time? It sucks. If the story had begun with slightly different people, ended with very different ships, and had a few too many plot twists. Has various pairings, including slash. Rated for language only tbh. MORE THAN THIRTY THOUSAND HITS MWAHAHA I'M SCREAMING
1. Chapter 1

**(Edited)**

**I've changed lots of stuff in here – its fanfiction after all.**

**First off, some people will go in different Hogwarts' houses, and ages are different; for example, I've made Arabella young – in her twenties – the rest of the marauders too. Thought it would be amusing to have a younger Arabella looking out for Harry – her personality is more or less the same. ^**

**Right, I think that's all. I hope you like, it's my first HP story and I seriously need backup. **

**So yea.**

**Halp.**

_**Fill your paper with the breathing of your heart – William Wordsworth **_

* * *

Arabella Figg blinked.

There, right on the train tracks, lay a boy.

And a train was coming right at him.

Arabella let out an undignified shriek. "Somebody get him off the train tracks, _now_!"

A nearby worker startled at her squeaky voice, and hurried towards where she directed him – and not a moment too soon, the train whizzed by them. She mentally congratulated herself on wearing pants today.

The worker carried the boy to a bench a few feet away and set him down. Arabella suddenly breathed in, realizing she'd been holding her breath. Her voice came out in a hushed breath; "Is he alive?"

Robert – as his name-tag said – checked his pulse, on his wrist first, then the boy's neck, when he couldn't feel anything.

"He's alive – just unconscious. Do you know him?"

Arabella stared at the boy.

_Harry?_

No – the boy's hair was brown. Not Harry. She let out a breath of relief. Then she remembered Robert's question.

"I- oh, no, I don't know him."

Robert looked at her suspiciously. "You were staring at him for quite a while, miss."

Arabella flushed. "I-I'd mistaken him for someone else."

Robert stared at her for another two seconds. He then dragged his stare back to the boy and spoke again. "What should we do with him?"

Arabella balked. She'd love nothing more than to hand the boy to the police and let them to their thing. But no. Of course not. Just because she was a squib, didn't mean she couldn't feel the magic coming from him. She looked weary for a second, then quickly made up her mind, knowing she would regret it. Quite soon, in fact.

"I have some free time – I suppose I should take him to the police? Perhaps they have something about a missing boy….." She gulped as her voice trailed off.

Robert looked satisfied though. "Alright then miss. You should wait a while though, if he wakes up. If he don't, my lunch break is soon, an' I'll come with you." He left to continue with his work.

Her heart sank. _Please wake up soon, please wake up soon, I need to take you home, not the police station, and I can't do that when he's with me, oh Merlin, why wasn't I born with magic, please wake up soon, I hate situations like these, wake up, wake up, wakeupwakeupwakeu-_

The boy's eyes fluttered open.

Arabella nearly sagged in relief. She moved the boy's bangs from his forehead and blinked.

_He has silver eyes…..? Grey. They're grey._

Robert somehow seemed to have noticed the boy was awake and was making his way back to the bench. She blamed it on herself for not controlling her expressions.

"You awake kid?"

The boy glanced at Robert. He then proceeded to completely ignore him, and stared at Arabella, who glanced at Robert, then back at the boy.

She spoke softly to him, "Are you hurt?"

The boy blinked – his grey eyes were just_ so bright-_

"No." His voice was hoarse. Arabella rummaged one of her bags for a bottle of water and handed it to him. He gulped it down quickly, drinking three quarters of the bottle without bothering to take a breath in the middle. He seemed to realize he had just about finished a whole bottle, and looked at Arabella as if he were trying not to look guilty. Arabella just smiled.

Robert looked rather put out at being ignored, but tried again.

"Where's your parents? How'd you end up on the rails, anyway?"

The boy's face blanked. He seemed rather annoyed at the questions, but gave an answer anyway;

"I don't know."

…or as much of an answer one would consider that to be.

Arabella decided if she wanted to take him home, she'd have to get going soon before Robert declared his lunch break. She stood up from the bench, dusting off some dust and offered her hand to the boy.

"Can you walk?"

_British accent, _Arabella thought, growing increasingly suspicious.

The boy glanced at her briefly, refusing to take the offered hand and tried to stand on his own. Which he surprisingly did.

Arabella dropped her hand, but kept an eye on the boy – he_ was _wobbling slightly. She said her goodbyes to Robert as hurriedly as she could without seeming suspicious. She also had an inkling he'd try to follow her. She sincerely hoped he wouldn't.

"What's your name?"

He seemed to ponder over this; "What's _yours?"_

Arabella smiled slightly. "Arabella Figg."

"Draco."

Arabella decided not to push him. "Are you the son of a Wizard?"

She'd obviously startled him. His eyes darted around nervously. He licked his lips and gave his answer in a hushed voice. "Yes."

Arabella hummed, looking around, pondering which way would be the quickest way to her house.

"Are you a Witch?"

She thought about lying to him, thinking he might turn against her if he knew the truth. She decided not to _lie, _but not give the entire truth either. She didn't know what type of family he was from, after all.

"I'm not a Witch, but I know about the magical world."

A few more minutes passed. Arabella tugged his hand, making sure he wouldn't end up getting lost in the crowds. She bit her lip, squinting her eyes slightly. She finally chose upon a path that would lead her quickly home. She'd gone no more than 10 steps when Draco pulled her hand.

"Miss Arabella? That man's following us."

Arabella briefly closed her eyes, willing her annoyance to go away. She bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at Draco. "How close is he?"

"…I'm not really sure, but I think if we run, we can lose him."

_Yes, and make him even more suspicious than he already is of me._

She made some quick calculations. Draco couldn't run, she had grocery bags with her, and Robert was getting closer. Arabella sighed.

"Draco, we're going to turn that corner over there," she pointed at a nearby shop, "and you're going to climb onto my back and I'm going to run. Okay?"

Draco frowned at not being able to run, but nodded.

"Come along then, we'd better be going before he catches us."

She and Draco reached the shop and turned the corner – right into the middle of what seemed a million people. Arabella cursed. _"God,_ I forgot there was an event somewhere here, we're going to have to find an alleyway and – follow me, I know a place-"

She ran into a shop with Draco. It was rather full – good. Taking Draco's hand, she ran through the crowd, found the counter she was looking for and dived behind it. The cashier standing there looked startled – even more when she realized it was Arabella.

"Arabella, what - _ow!"_

Arabella, as discreetly as possible, explained her problem – minus the magic, of course. After a second, she added another thing; "You have clothes upstairs, right? I need some for him – his aren't exactly clean at the moment."

In fact, the whole of Draco seemed 'unclean' at the moment.

"You know what? Lend me your bathroom, too."

* * *

"Your hair's blond."

"And yours is black." Came the dry reply.

"How'd it get so dirty? You looked like some ragamuffin." She offered him a sheepish smile when he glared, "Sorry."

Draco sniffed. In all his eleven years of living, he really couldn't remember meeting anyone so carefree. Although he supposed he should be glad it wasn't someone like his father. And no one washed hair like that, either. She'd practically held his head over the tub, told him to hold his breath and close his eyes, and suddenly there was cold water over his head.

And then she'd used a towel to ruffle his head.

He'd briefly wondered if this was why the magic world found muggles so queer.

And now, he was finally clean again, wearing normal clothes – he had yet to remember how in the world he had gotten himself into the previous rags – and filling himself with food – which he was grateful that there was at least _one thing _that was _normal_. He'd begun to entertain himself with the idea of muggles eating snails. When he told Arabella this, she had laughed and told him he was lucky he wasn't in France.

They'd waited an hour before they set out again. When they reached her house, she let her eyes sweep over the Dursley's, as she always did when she returned home. The sun was setting now, and the downstairs lights were on. The garden outside was clean too – it was late autumn, and there were heaps of neat piles of leaves in a corner. Arabella was getting rather wary of the Dursleys' and couldn't help but think there was something wrong with them. Before, she'd usually shrug it off – now she couldn't shake off the feeling that something _was_ actually wrong.

She opened the door to her house, going inside, Draco behind her. She was rather surprised now, wondering why he had trusted her so easily. She decided not to think about it.

She led him to her living room and promptly stopped, causing Draco to bump into her.

There, on the table in the middle of the room, sat an owl – which didn't look rather pleased, with its feathers ruffled up and its angry hooting upon seeing her. It flew towards her, but before she could duck, it rammed into her stomach. She winced.

Arabella let the owl perch onto itself onto her arm. She quickly went to the kitchen, drawing out a bowl of – _something _– Draco couldn't see, and gave it to the owl to eat. She then gently untied the letter from its foot, praying it wouldn't peck her.

It was from Dumbledore. Not that she'd expected anyone else, as her parents rarely wrote.

She opened the seal carefully and peered inside the envelope. Sure enough, he'd stuffed in some type of candy in there. She sniffed them.

_I hope they're not vomit flavor again._

The squib mentally shuddered.

_Dear wonderful Arabella, _

She lifted an eyebrow. _He wants something._

_I hope all is well with you and the lovely kneazles. Unfortunately, I must get straight to the point of this letter, as I was informed no more than five minutes ago by Minerva that I have a meeting with the ministry._

_I wanted to inform you beforehand that Harry will be receiving his letter to Hogwarts this year, along with quite a number of other eleven year old children. You are more likely than not acquainted with one of the children already, by the name of Draco Malfoy. I apologize for suddenly handing him over to you – apparently, one of his family members was out to get him, as he is the heir to Lucius Malfoy and all the fortune will be handed over to him when he is of legal age. I assume you can imagine quite well how it would have turned out, so Mrs. Malfoy decided to consult me, and I thought there would be no better place for young Draco to hide, than your wonderful home._

_So, therefore, what I am trying to say, is that I hope you will take good care of Draco Malfoy until he receives his letter – which will be about three months from now and then your hands will be free again._

_Mrs. Malfoy sends her love to her son, and hopes you will take good care of him till he is allowed to return. She also wishes her son to know everything that is going on, so I encourage you to tell him he will be staying with you for a few weeks._

_Best wishes,_

_Albus Dumbledore_


	2. Chapter 2

**(Edited)**

**Hello again. Welcome to the second chapter of this story. O^O **

**I got more than 120 views on the first chappie. More than I was expecting, so thank you all. **

**Another thing I would like to mention – Arabella lives in America. Basically, I've picked up the whole Privet drive and a few other houses and placed them somewhere in America. Hogwarts is still in Britain though – couldn't bring myself to move it.**

**Anyway, since they're in America, they'll be speaking like Americans too (some of them, anyway) – that was actually the reason of me picking them up and dropping them in America – I'm Canadian, and I speak more or less the same way as an American does, and I really can't bring myself to write this story while imagining the characters to be speaking British English. I'd die of laughter. Just imagine. My gravestone would say 'Died laughing'.**

…**..Just like Fred and Sirius and Bellatrix.**

**WHY DO I TORTURE MYSELF LIKE THIS?! TT^TT**

**AndCanYouBelieve – OoO – I forgot to add the disclaimer in the first chap.**

**My bad.**

**Disclaimer: I killed J. K. Rowling, so I own the characters now – pretty much the same way it goes with peoples wands. Enjoy. :P**

_**Whether or not you write well, write bravely – Bill Stout**_

* * *

Arabella's eye twitched.

_That old fart, I can't take care of him, I have work to do, and he's a boy, I don't know how to take care of him, who does he think he is, dumping a kid I don't even _know_ on me-_

"Miss Arabella?"

_Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out. Repeat again._

"Yes Draco?"

"….No offense, but you're rather red."

She blinked and turned around to the nearest mirror. Indeed, her face had taken the color of – well – red. She laughed lightly through her despair.

"Sorry, I just –," she took in another breath, "Draco, do you know who Albus Dumbledore is?"

"Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Right. So, apparently, he's kidnapped you – well, not really, but he says in this letter," she flapped the paper, "that a family member of yours was out to get you," Draco seemed to show no surprise on this, "and so, he sent you here. I am to look after you until you get your letter from Hogwarts, which means about three months."

"Okay."

"...You're from Britain, yes?"

"Yes."

"Well, we're in America at the moment. United States of America."

She finally got a reaction out of him. "Really?" he asked, his silver – _grey_ – eyes slightly widened.

"Yep. So you're gonna have to learn some things, that I'm quite sure don't work in Britain."

She grinned at his wary look, "Don't worry, nothing too much. First off, we're going to get Hermione here – think she'll be able to help with some stuff."

* * *

Arabella knocked on the Grangers' door. She'd been grateful – albeit a bit surprised – when she'd found Draco's stuff in the spare bedroom – then she had the sudden thought of them being robes that Dumbledore always wore, and was relieved to find they were normal clothes.

It was a rather breezy day, the birds were chirping, there was some faint yelling going on somewhere – it seemed like a nice day, overall.

Until she noticed the yelling was coming from inside, that is.

She saw a bushy head scurry past from behind a window, the yelling now steadily growing louder. A moment later, she heard someone fumbling around with the key, and the door was wrenched open – and there stood a girl about Draco's height, with the bushiest head Draco had ever seen in his life, and eyes that were _golden_ – Arabella blanched.

_I swear they were brown last time I saw them._

"_Bella! _Thank God you're here, no wait, you can't come inside, Anna an' Dad are fighting again-"

"'_Again'?_"

"Yes, _again_. Listen, I've got a bag packed inside here, can I please, please, _please_ come and live with you until they calm down, I can't _bear_ listen to them fighting, it's not nice at all, they're practically at each other's throats more than _half the day – can you believe – _and, oh, here's my bag, did you bring your car, please tell me you came by car -" She peered behind Arabella.

"_Yes, _you brought your car, right can we go now, and hey, I didn't notice you, who's he Bella?" She said looking curiously at Draco, finally seeming to notice him. She shook her head. "Doesn't matter, you can tell me in the car, can we leave now, Anna'll be coming down any min –"

There was a loud "_FINE!_" from upstairs, the loud crash of a door being slammed shut and then footsteps.

Hermione paled "Oh my God, she's going to come down any minute, _gogogogogogo_ -"

She shoved Arabella and Draco from the doorstep, grabbed her shoes and bag, locked the door as quietly as possible and shoved the key into her pocket.

"Right, as long as she doesn't look at the window, we're safe_. _Can we_ go _now?"

* * *

Arabella looked at the digital clock installed in the car again. Her house was about half an hour from the Grangers' and they'd only been gone for about 5 minutes, in which Hermione had put on her shoes properly and was now rummaging through her bag.

Arabella coughed slightly. "So, are you going to tell us what happened…?"

She didn't look up from her bag. "Yeah, just gimme a second – found it," she said triumphantly, holding out her mobile. Draco stared at it.

"What's that?"

Hermione's mouth fell open. "Are you _kidding_ me? You don't know what a _mobile_ is? Have you been living under a _rock_ –"

Draco looked deeply offended. "I've never seen one in my world, what did you expect –"

"_Your world?_ What are you, from _Mars_?" She said incredulously.

Arabella coughed again. "_Magic_, honey, he's the son of a _wizard_."

Hermione's face changed from incredulous to sudden realization. "_Oooh_." Then something clicked inside her. She crawled onto the backseat she and Draco were sitting on so she was more or less on all fours and brought her face close to Draco's. "_Really_? Can you do _magic_? Do you have a wand? What's the magic world like? And how do you –"

"_Hermione, _put on your_ seat-belt."_

She hurriedly put on her belt and opened her mouth to continue her questions. Arabella sighed. She reached her hand out to turn on the radio to full blast. Draco immediately covered his ears, wincing. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright, I get it," she muttered. She raised her voice over the radio, "Okay Bella, I'll tell you what happened, you can turn off the radio now!"

"Right. So?"

Hermione fidgeted in her seat. She briefly thought about changing the subject just to annoy Bella, but decided she didn't want to chance being sent back home.

"They were fighting."

Draco snorted.

Arabella sighed. "Are you going to tell me why?"

"AnnacheatedonDad."

They all lurched forward into their seats as the car screeched to a halt_. "_You're_ kidding!"_

"They're getting divorced."

"_What?!"_

Hermione sniffed and waved her hand in front of her, willing the water in her eyes to go away. "Have you suddenly become incapable of understanding English?" Her voice wavered slightly.

Arabella felt completely lost. "Why would she even think of cheating on him? He's been faithful, hasn't he? And you're like – eleven, right? They've been together for more than five years, what could've -"

Hermione shut her eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know – I think it might've been me, 'cause she started acting all weird last year, when they found out about the magic. You know she never drinks other than on special occasions, but she'd started going with her friends and coming back drunk. One day she'd left in the evening with her friends again, and didn't come back till twelve the next day."

Arabella's eyes were wide. "What did you guys do?"

"Dad didn't want to start fighting with her, so he asked some of her friends and eventually found out she'd slept with someone. He asked her about it and they started fighting. They're getting divorced in two months."

Arabella frowned, at a loss for words. Deciding she'd talk to Hermione about it later, she turned back around and started the car again. "I'll talk to you about this later, if that's okay with you. Might as well tell you why Draco's here, first."

After explaining everything about Draco, Hermione had volunteered to help Draco as much as she could and they all settled into silence. Arabella changed course to a shopping center, figuring she'd need more groceries now, with two kids on her hands.

Arabella stopped the car in front of a mall. She looked at the back seat, expecting both the kids to be somewhat awkward and minding their own business, and was pleasantly surprised when she saw them poring over Hermione's mobile in Draco's hands, while Hermione pointed out things every now and then.

"You two want to stay in the car, or come with me and see if you want anything?"

"We'll come with you – I need new headphones and some other stuff." Hermione said, tucking her mobile inside her pocket. She glanced at Draco. "Think we can buy him a phone?"

* * *

"Those go in that cabinet. Put those in the fridge, you can't eat them right now. _No_, Hermione, _no_," Bella said as she snatched the pack of chocolate from her hands and put them on top of the fridge.

Hermione pouted and climbed onto the counter.

Draco sat on a nearby stool. "Question," He said turning to Hermione.

"In the Wizarding world, people take marriages rather seriously – is that not the same with muggles?" He couldn't help but notice Hermione and Arabella had discussed the divorce as if it were a rather normal occurring thing. They'd clearly been upset, but not as upset as he'd seen some Witches and Wizards discussing relations.

Draco had figured out by now that Arabella was a squib – she wouldn't know so much about magic otherwise, unless she had magical children, which she didn't, as far as he knew. He surprisingly didn't feel any revulsion – same with Hermione being a muggleborn. He suddenly didn't understand his father's hatred towards them. It's not as if they _asked_ to be who they were.

Hermione looked thoughtful. "I suppose by your standard, it wouldn't really be showing much – I've read about relations in the Wizarding world, and they take their relations rather seriously. Well here, we _do_ take them seriously, but people aren't that good – in a sense meaning they don't always stay faithful – they tend to 'fall out of love' usually. Especially here in America. Make sense?"

Draco nodded his head slowly. "I suppose..."

"Anyway, that's all cleared up. Bella, can we go get Harry?"

Bella fought the urge to whine. "Not now. Seriously tired. It's ten already. Bed. Now."

"Miss Arabella,-"

Bella waved her hand. "Really, Draco, call me Bella."

He thought of Bellatrix then – how she'd react if she knew he was using her nickname for a squib.

He mentally shrugged. _What she doesn't know won't kill her, _he thought snorting_._

"The extra mattresses are in the guest room – go on and help Hermione. You can bring them into the living room."

Another thing Draco wasn't accustomed to – working. He had thought about using his father's haughtiness and decided against it. He himself objecting to being called _spoilt_. So since Hermione was working, he shoved down his still-not-quite-grown Malfoy pride down, went to the guest room and brought out the mattresses, while Hermione carried in the blankets and pillows.

Another thing he found queer – Hermione. Unlike girls her age he'd seen at his parents' parties and other places, she didn't wear skirts or anything much girly. Sure, she was wearing earrings, but there were relatively simple – nothing like his mother's dangly ones. And one of the things he'd noticed - and was very grateful for – he noticed she didn't wear perfume. Thinking about it over, he realized she could've easily passed for a boy if it wasn't for her delicate features.

They set up the mattresses quickly, sleep being the only thing on everyone's minds at the moment. Hermione threw her bag on a couch and flopped down on her mattress. Having washed and changed into their pajamas, they all felt like dropping dead.

Arabella waited for Draco to lie down, then switched off the light. She opened her mouth to bid them good night, when she was struck with a sudden thought.

She walked in front of them both and sat down between them. She prodded them both with a finger.

"I _just_ closed the light - you're not asleep yet and you know it." She received muffled moans.

"Okay, okay, just look at me. I just want to see your eyes and I'll be off." They both turned to look at her, both half glaring at her from hooded, glowing eyes –

"...I _wasn't_ seeing things then...Your eyes _are_ glowing…." She said in awe.

They blinked sleepily at her. "Huh?"

She blinked back. "Nothing, you can see in the morning – goodnight."

* * *

**Okay, so like, I seriously need reviews. You guys have fingers, right? Use them and type in some bloody words – figuratively please, I don't need any more blood on my laptop.**

**Please.**

**And I'm so hooked on HP/DM, it's worrying. And I have a question. Why do we call it them 'Drarry'? It's riddikulus. Really. They should be called 'Harco'.**

**Haaaaaaaaaaarcooooooooooooo. **

**Sounds beautiful. O^O**

**Another question - I'm stuck on who I should pair Harry with. I initially thought Ginny, but then I'm like wtfno, and now I'm swinging between Pansy and Luna. Halp.**

**Last question – what would y'all think if I made this a music-fic? Somewhat, anyway. I was thinking about it, and I suddenly imagined Dumbledore singing Blank Space.**

***Switches laptop on to autopilot and dies laughing***

**Right. Jarvis here. Please excuse her. Hopefully she'll be back to write the next chapter. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP.**

_**What people are ashamed of usually makes a good story – F. Scott Fitzgerald**_

* * *

Arabella quirked an eyebrow at the amusing sight that had been greeting her every morning of the last three weeks.

Draco's head was on Hermione's stomach, Hermione's arm around Draco's neck, Harry's head resting on one of her legs with her other leg on his chest – it more or less made a perfect picture of a Hermione strangling both boys.

She took a sip of her coffee, tiptoeing around them to reach her camera on the bookshelf. She noisily pulled back the curtains, letting in the sunlight and eliciting a groan from the three youngsters. They groped around blindly for covers, which Harry proceeded to cover his face with, Draco dragging it up further to cover his own face, and Hermione pulling it all the way up to cover her own.

Arabella took a picture and looked at them again.

She decided she was getting tired of waiting for them to wake up every morning – they took a whole half hour and some.

She headed over to her cupboard and took out a megaphone.

"I'll be giving you another chance to pick your worthless selves up," She announced.

A few seconds passed.

"Remember," she said, bringing the megaphone up to her mouth, "I didn't want to do this."

* * *

"Stop looking at me like that."

The glares grew more sullen.

"…I'll make pancakes."

Eyes – _glowing_ eyes – narrowed.

"...Okay, no pancakes. Er – muffins?"

Glares.

"They're _chocolate_ muffins, they're really good!"

The glaring multiplied tenfold.

Arabella racked her brain.

_Not even _chocolate_, they're lucky I actually _like_ them, what about cookies?_

"Chocolate fudge cookies? The ones I only keep for special occasions?"

Arabella feared for her health briefly – they were angry, they weren't old enough to control their magic, it didn't help that their eyes were glowing either –

"…What about French toast?"

The glares faltered and she held herself from snickering.

"French toast it is, then."

* * *

When they'd first gotten Harry here, it'd been only because the Dursleys' were going on a holiday. Harry and Hermione had known each other from previous visits, and were fast friends. But Arabella had never seen anyone – not even kids – become friends as fast as Harry and Draco had.

Over the last three weeks, they'd become inseparable. Not that they had anywhere to go really, but they stuck together like thieves. They were a rather funny bunch, if she said so herself. The only thing they had in common were their pranks. Arabella snorted, amused.

_The kind prankster, the cold prankster and the smart prankster._

One of the funniest things that happened was when she noticed Draco's accent changing from British to their American ones. At that moment she'd had a feeling that it would be very difficult to separate them in the future.

Looking upon all three, she saw an oncoming squabble.

Draco opened the fridge and grimaced.

"There's no food in the fridge," he sullenly announced.

"Harry ate it all, Bella," Hermione quipped.

"Well, _excuse me_."

"Draco, check the fridge again. Still nothing?" Hermione turned back to Harry. "You're not excused."

Harry narrowed his eyes – _green, glowing eyes_ – slightly at her. "You know, sometimes people-"

"Alright, that's enough. Anyone would think you guys never get food or something." Their faces were caught in a mixture of glaring and pouting. 'We'll go shopping today, we need to do groceries, you guys can buy some stuff – no balloons this time, you guys ruined the whole garden."

She glanced at their faces again.

Their faces were of pure horror. They crowded around her.

"Bella, _please_! We'll be _really_ good!"

"We'll even clean the garden this time!"

"_Ourselves_!"

"_Please_, we'll do _whatever_ you-"

Two hands clamped down on Hermione's mouth.

"Not _anything_, but yeah, we'll help."

She tried not to smile. "Alright."

* * *

They stood in front of the grocery center, both boys on either side of Hermione.

"So."

"This is it."

"Yep."

"So, who has the sticks?"

"…It was Hermione's turn."

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Check your pockets, maybe you did put them in."

Draco shoved his hands down his back pant pockets, then his front, then his hoodie pockets. He grasped the sticks and stuck them out. Hermione looked pleased.

"Right. Take a stick, hold it behind your back – no cheating, Malfoy."

"Yes, _Mother_."

They all held their sticks behind their backs, snapped off a little, and brought them back in front of their eyes. Harry and Hermione grinned in triumph.

"Off you go, Blondie."

"_Don't_ call me that."

Harry snickered. "Sure, _Blondie_."

Arabella rummaged through her bag for a coin. "I'm gonna go get the trolley, you guys just wait here for a minute, okay? I am _not_ going to spend half an hour searching for you all again."

"Yes, Bella."

"Whose turn is it to go with me?"

Snickering. "Blondie's."

"Oh. Well, you can come with me Draco, the baskets are over there, Hermione, both of you stick together - and don't buy anything useless."

Hermione scoffed. "As if."

Arabella glanced at her watch. "Okay, meet at the vegetables in forty-five minutes."

"Yes, Bella."

* * *

Arabella and Draco arrived at the vegetables nearly fifteen minutes early, only to see Hermione and Harry waiting for them. Arabella was surprised.

"You two found all your stuff already?"

They jumped at her voice and turned to face her with slightly sweaty faces. Arabella's eyes narrowed. "You two raced back here?"

Hermione frantically shook her head, while Harry nodded vigorously. "Wesaw_ him! _So we ran!"

"…Him…?"

"Yes! _Him_!"

"…Care to elaborate?"

"…Care to ello-what?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, having gotten her breath back. "_Explain_, you idiot."

Hermione opened her mouth again, but Harry beat her to it. _"We _sawthe_ Boogeyman!"_

Draco looked completely baffled, having no idea who 'Boogeyman' was, Arabella stared at them, quite sure they were up to another of their tricks, and some nearby children were trying to laugh without being too obvious about it.

Hermione swatted Harry's head. He glared at her, rubbing his head. She opened her mouth again.

"Not _Boogeyman_, per se, but someone who could easily fit the description." She looked thoughtful for a second. "In fact, he could pass as a 'not-green' version of _Frankenstein_, too, I should think. Anyway," She continued hastily when she saw Arabella's glare, "He was this really weird – _strange_ – looking guy. He was rather large, he was missing a foot and had a wooden spike in place of it, he was missing an eye too - well not really - but it looked fake, and he was holding this stick to help him walk and his skin was rather wrinkly – no offense to him – and the strangest thing was no one seemed to have noticed him! He stood there out of place form the whole crowd, his clothes dirty, but no one saw him but me and Harry!"

Arabella wet her suddenly dry lips while Hermione gulped in air and opened her mouth again.

"Then he-"

Harry seemed to come back to his senses. "Okay, Hermione, I'll continue from here, if you _please_."

She nodded, slightly breathless. Harry spoke again.

"_Then_," he looked pointedly at Hermione, "He came up to me and asked my name." He looked eagerly at Arabella for a reaction and looked worried when he noticed she was pale. "Bella?"

Arabella licked her lips again. "Did you tell him your name?"

Harry looked offended. "Of course not. You're always going on about how not to tell strangers our name. I told him the name of a Chinese doctor. 'Shit Fun Chew'. It's really a name, you know. Saw it on Dudley's computer."

Silence.

Draco burst out laughing, Hermione giggling helplessly.

Harry looked proud.

Arabella couldn't help smiling, either. "I suppose you two ran then? Explains why you were so out of breath." Her eyes widened. "Did he come after you?"

Harry and Hermione blinked and looked at each other. "…Uh...we were kinda busy running away…"

"I don't think he did, though," Harry hastily added when Arabella set her lips in a thin line. "He seemed too fa- _big_ to run. No offense to him."

Arabella glanced over the whole place. As far as she could see, there wasn't anyone suspicious. Who knows, maybe he'd mistaken Harry as some missing kid or something. Hopefully.

"We're going to shop as quickly as possible, and get home as quickly as we can. No fighting or mumbling or anything of the sort." She turned to Harry and Hermione. "Did you two get anything?"

Hermione stared at the floor. "I was, like, holding the basket when Bogey Man suddenly appeared and started talking to Harry," She mumbled. "I kinda just dropped it, grabbed Harry and ran like crazy…"

Harry looked at Arabella expectantly. She narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"

"Can we go get the basket back?"

She looked at him incredulously. "Are you _insane_? Like _hell_ you can." She grabbed the trolley, starting to look for vegetables and muttering under her breath about how all magical kids seemed insane.

Harry looked at Draco, who looked at Hermione, who in turn looked at Harry. "Now what?"

Draco cleared his throat. "…We could risk it…?"

All three collectively blanched. "No _way_."

"…But we do need those balloons…"

"…And if we don't get them now, who knows when we'll next get them…"

"…And we'll be _so_ _bored_…"

"…But if we risk it, we're throwing in our lives too."

They looked at each other again. Hermione quickly scanned their current standing. "I'll go with Bella, distract her as much as possible, and you two will go and get that basket and _come back here ASAP."_

The boys fled.

Hermione steeled herself and ran to Arabella, who was examining a rather peculiar fruit. "Hey, Bella, the boys don't wanna help! Seems like you're stuck with me!"

* * *

"Where's the basket?"

"Dunno, we were standing somewhere here, so it's gotta be somewhere nearby…"

Draco eyed a basket a few feet from them. "That one?"

Harry walked over to it.

"Nope."

"I'm going to check that one over there."

"'Kay."

* * *

Hermione's eyes darted over to check if the boys were back for what seems like the thousandth time. Again, there was no sign of them.

Instead, this time she saw another man.

Who was staring right at Arabella with a peculiar look on his face.

* * *

"Is it that one?"

"Nope!"

Draco looked at Harry despairingly, who returned the look with his own.

"Hermione's going to _kill_ us!"

They looked around desperately for more baskets.

"…If Bella doesn't get to us first, that is…"

* * *

Hermione tugged Arabella's sleeve. "Bella, there's some guy looking at you really, _really_ suspiciously – no don't _look_ at him!"

Arabella winced. "Sorry, I won't. What does he look like?"

Hermione casually glanced at the man, trying not to be too obvious. "Short brown hair, I think his eyes are blue – can't really see from here – he's tall and rather tan." She looked up at Arabella, who was trying to place the definition into a category. "You know him?"

She frowned. "I don't think I do, but maybe if I look at him, I might just recognize him from somewhere…"

* * *

"That's it. We're going back."

"Fine with me."

"I see another basket – lemme just check that one, and we'll go."

"Be quick about it."

Harry let out a delighted yelp. "Got it!"

Draco hurried over to him in relief. "Okay then, let's get going before Bella-"

"Malfoy?"

Harry and Draco blinked at the unexpected gruff voice and slowly turned around.

Only to come face to face with BoogeyMan.

Draco felt like an ant being compared with a lion.

Harry firmly clutched the basket with one hand and grabbed Draco with the other and _ran_.

* * *

_OhmyGod, shit, it's that guy from the train station, what was his name again, not the point here, if he recognizes you, I think it was Robert, he's going to see Draco, no, wait, Draco was filthy at that time, he won't recognize him_, _where are the boys-_

Arabella blinked. She turned to Hermione. "Where are the boys?"

Hermione casually glanced around_. Please be here, please be here, she's going to kill me, I'll haunt you for the rest of your live and even after you die, be here, be here, beherebeherebeher-_

She saw them running towards them, coming up towards Bella's back. She tried not sag in relief. "There! Right behind you!"

The boys rushed up to Bella, Harry taking her hand and Draco taking the trolley.

"Have you finished your shopping?" Harry panted, "'Cause we gotta go, like, _right_ now."

Harry tugged on Arabella's hand while Draco and Hermione maneuvered the trolley between the crowds.

"Thing is, we ran into Boogeyman again, and he seemed to know Draco, so like, we just _ran_, ran like _insane_, and – what are you looking for Bella?"

"Two men," she answered, looking at Harry, "One of them is this so called _Boogeyman_, and the other," she glanced at Draco, "Is the guy who was with me when I found Draco. And I'm not looking forward to seeing _either_ of them right now."

"Excuse me!"

Arabella paled. "That was him, wasn't it?" she asked without turning around. She lifted up Harry – who let out a squeak – and set him into an empty trolley nearby and grabbed its handles.

"Hermione, you know your way around the mall, take Draco and meet me at the North exit in no more than _ten_ _minutes_."

They ran.

She tightened her hold on the trolley Harry was sitting in. "I never seem to have any calm days now," she said in disbelief, shaking her head.

* * *

Hermione and Draco panted. "We're a minute early."

Someone grabbed the back of Draco's collar. Hermione squeaked. "Let _go_ of him!"

At the same moment, Arabella and Harry came around the corner. Arabella looked shocked.

_There really is a Boogeyman._

Harry started shouting, getting the attention of nearby people. "Hey! Let go of him! Help! Someone's trying to kidnap that boy!_ Help!"_

At once people swarmed around Hermione and Draco, a big man thumping Boogeyman on the back. In the chaos, Draco managed to grab Hermione's hand and slip away to Arabella.

Arabella looked them all over quickly to see if they were hurt. "Okay, hold hands and we're gonna run out-"

"Hey! Excuse me! Could you please-"

Arabella's eyes widened. She grabbed Draco's hand, who was still holding Hermione, who grabbed Harry and rushed out – straight into Hermione's father.

"_Dad!"_

* * *

Dan glanced wearily at the mirror where he saw three subdued children sitting in the back seat. He then glanced back at the woman beside him.

Dan knew Anna was friends with her, but he'd never really _met_ her – he really only knew that Anna would sometimes leave Hermione with her

She couldn't have been more than thirty, he reasoned. But why she was shopping with his daughter and two boys was beyond him.

Not to mention, they seemed to have been running from someone, as well.

Dan took a right turn and glanced at the mirror again. "So, is anyone going to explain…?"

He was awarded with three identical grins.

* * *

**So.**

**I hope it's good.**

**You guys should really review, ya know. Would put me to ease knowing y'all are even readin' this thing.**

**And I'd still like more opinions on who Harry should end up.**

**A second please.**

***Walks into pantry***

***Hands a plate of Chocolate Fudge Cookies to SassyDoe.***

***Dusts hands***

**Right. So.**

**Ta.**


	4. Chapter 4

**First of all, this chapter is dedicated to SassyDoe, who has been reviewing on each chap so far. Thank you. ^^**

**Second, it's also dedicated to everyone who had favorited and/or followed this story. Once again, thanks.**

**Thirdly, it's also dedicated to the people who've read it. Even reading this means a lot. **

**Fourthly, it is **_**not**_** dedicated to the two people who egged me on to write this story and left me alone after that. **

**Brats.**

**Disclaimer: If it's really that necessary, go and see the second chap. Enjoy.**

_**The library is a hospital for the mind - Anonymous **_

* * *

Dan sat on the sofa with Hermione next to him. On the sofa in front of him sat Arabella, with both boys on either side of her. He looked them all over again.

_This is ridiculous._

All four of them stared at him expectantly. He coughed lightly and looked at Arabella.

"You're saying that you've been looking after my daughter," he glanced at Hermione, who beamed at him, "And two other boys, by _yourself_."

Arabella blinked. "That's what bothers you the most?" She said in disbelief.

Dan shrugged. "I don't have a problem with you looking after Hermione and those two," he said eyeing Draco and Harry, "Just – I don't really get how you did it. I don't think _I_ would look after three kids I barely know, let alone for three months. Hermione's been a handful as it is, and I thank you for looking after her."

"I know Hermione from Anna's visits," Arabella said hesitantly, wincing when Dan narrowed his eyes at the mention of his soon-to-be ex-wife, "And Harry lives across from me. So, um, not really kids I barely know, so to say."

Dan looked at Harry and Draco again, ignoring the surprising urge to keep staring at the black haired woman.

He blinked. "Is it just me, or are their eyes glowing?" He looked at Hermione. "Yours do too, right? So you're looking after three _magical_ kids?"

Harry blinked at this. "Magical? Unfortunately, Mister, we're perfectly normal. I think. As far as I know, anyway."

This time the stares were directed at Harry. He squirmed. "What?"

Arabella looked at him in increasing disbelief. "You're a Wizard – didn't the Dursleys' tell you that?"

"…No?"

Arabella stood up furiously. "I'm calling Dumbledore."

The four kept silent as she left. Dan turned back to the kids. "I don't know who he is, but I already feel sorry for him. Or is it a her?"

"Him." Draco answered.

A few seconds past and Dan snorted lightly.

"_Dumbledore_."

Hermione grinned at her father. "Funny name, right?"

"Is she normally like this?" Dan asked, referring to Arabella.

"Oh, no," Harry assured, "She's really nice, but when she gets angry," he glanced at the door warily, "She kinda goes 'boom'," he said, making his hands go in an exploding motion.

"Oh."

"Yup."

A few more seconds past in silence.

"So, wanna help us make dinner? It's Harry's birthday today."

At that moment there was a massive knocking on Arabella's door.

The kids shrieked. "_Oh my God_, it's the _Boogeyman_!"

* * *

It wasn't.

It'd been a big human, coming to wish Harry a Very Happy Birthday, saying there was no one at the Dursleys' and had thought he'd come visit Arabella.

His name was Hagrid.

Harry liked him.

They'd all started chatting, and he eventually found out that Harry was 'non-magical'.

He'd flipped.

"Wha' d'yer mean, yer ain't magical?!"

Arabella had promptly kicked him out after he broke a vase, saying he would be a bad influence on the kids and to come back after he'd calmed down.

Harry had sulked for a while when Arabella had forbidden him to check Hagrid's motorcycle.

* * *

After dinner, they all settled to go to bed, Dan taking the guest room.

He'd been horrified when he'd learnt Hermione was sleeping together with not _one_ boy, but _two._ The boys had just stared at him blankly and he'd had to remind himself that they were just kids.

_They'll stop sleeping together soon,_ he thought hopefully.

A part of his brain doubted it.

* * *

Hermione frowned when she sensed a shadow fall over her. She'd woken up earlier than usual, said the clock on the wall, so she'd decided to go back to sleep. And now, she sensed a shadow on her. She cracked open an eye the tiniest bit.

And promptly knocked heads with the person who had been leaning over her. And waking up Draco and Harry in the process as well. They took one look at the clock and started whining.

"It's not even _six_ yet, 'Mione, _what_ is your _prob_\- who're _you_?"

They all stared at the twinkling, blue eyes that seemed to be trying their best not to look amused.

Harry spoke up. "That's one helluva long beard you've got there, sir."

"And really strange clothes, too," Hermione added, eyeing the old man's robes. "Halloween's still a few months off, sir."

If possible, his eyes twinkled more.

* * *

Arabella and Dan sat on the sofa with Harry between them, facing Dumbledore, who sat in front of them.

Arabella glaring at Dumbledore, Harry half glaring and Dan looking at Dumbledore wearily, who tried to be avoiding Arabella's glare. Unsuccessfully.

After a few minutes of silence, Dumbledore opened his mouth – only to shut it again when Hermione and Draco entered, sitting at the foot of the sofa, Hermione next to Harry's left leg and Draco next to his right. Dumbledore's eyebrows rose slightly. His eyes swept over them.

_A Muggle, Muggle-born, Squib, Half-Blood and Pure-blood,_ he thought. _What a strange family._

It didn't help that he felt like a victim under an interrogation, either.

He cleared his throat and pointedly stared at the three children who'd sniggered lightly.

Arabella rolled her eyes and spoke up first. "Would you mind explaining why Harry doesn't know anything about magic?"

"It was necessary, dear Arabella."

Her eyes narrowed. "Was it, now?"

Draco abruptly got up, using Harry's knee to lift himself up. "I'll go get some water."

Hermione and Harry got up at the same time. "Me too."

They fled.

Dan sagged into the sofa a little, wondering if he should escape with them. He saw Dumbledore staring at him amused.

He steeled his stare and straightened.

* * *

The three huddled outside the door, in a mess of limbs, trying not to be noticed.

"-sure you'll let Harry know who he really is, won't you, Albus?"

The simultaneously winced at the hidden threat in Arabella's voice.

Harry opened his mouth. "You think I should-"

Hermione slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut_ up,_" Draco hissed.

"Of course, Arabella, dear. Should I go get him-"

"No need," they heard Arabella say in a dry voice, "They're all outside, listening. Come on in, Harry."

They all scrambled to their feet Harry suddenly noticing they were all still in their pajamas. Hermione seemed to have noticed as well and tugged at his arm impatiently. "Who _cares_?"

Harry shrugged and they walked into the living room.

Later, Hermione and Draco found themselves half-wishing they hadn't.

* * *

After all had been said and done, Dumbledore finished putting back together the last window in the living room.

It had gone worse than he would have ever imagined.

Harry had broken nearly everything made of glass, plastic or china, all the while just standing in front of Albus with his glasses cracked and eyes glowing with fury, and after a while he stood dead still.

Then he'd collapsed.

Dan had carried him to the bed in the guestroom, while Dumbledore fixed everything up – all of it being his fault in the first place, as Hermione had put it.

Dumbledore wasn't feeling happy, either. Far from it.

He'd come here thinking that Arabella wanted to ask a question about the young Malfoy, not come to find her babysitting three children – including the _Chosen One_ \- and a man, and having to tell the Chosen One who he was.

_I should have just stayed in my office,_ he thought, slightly irked. He searched his pockets to see if he had any lemon drops with him. He sighed in disappointment.

He turned around to ask Arabella about Harry, only to come face to face with Draco. He looked behind the boy.

No Arabella or Dan.

He looked at Draco again.

"Yes, Draco?"

Grey eyes – _glowing silver eyes_, he noted with interest – narrowed a fraction. "I'd prefer you call me _Malfoy_, sir. I don't call you _Albus_, so it's only fair, don't you think?"

_He is _definitely_ Lucius's son._

Hermione pressed her lips together in an attempt to not laugh.

Albus smiled a Fake Smile, reminding himself that he was speaking to a _child_, and hexing him was on the Do Not Do List.

"Of course, of course… Ah, I just remembered-" He rummaged around his robes - looking much like an old lady searching for a pocket in the midst of her many petticoats – and pulled out four envelopes and put them on the coffee table in front of him.

"These are admission letters from Hogwarts to all three of you," he said, peering at them from under his glasses, "And an extra letter from your father, Dra- _Malfoy_, my boy. I shall take my leave now, as I have much work to get done. I hope you will all be well, and I look forward to seeing you at school this year."

He turned around, his robes swishing, took a pinch of floo powder and disappeared in the green flames.

Draco turned to Hermione, who was still staring at the fireplace with interest.

"Well, _he_ sure knows how to leave in style."

* * *

Arabella had told them to give Harry some space, saying he'd come around soon.

They'd waited a whole two hours.

"I can't sleep."

"Me neither."

They flopped onto their backs and stared at the ceiling.

"Dad's gonna come back next week."

Draco stared at the unopened envelopes on the coffee table. "Think we should open the letters?"

Hermione joined in the staring. "Dunno. Wanted to open them with Harry."

She turned her gaze back at the ceiling. "Should we just go and get him…?"

Draco blinked. "Do you hear that?" He looked towards the door that led into the kitchen. "There's someone in the kitchen."

Hermione scrambled up. "I hope its Harry."

"Think we'll scare him away?"

Hermione looked at him with a startled expression. "Gosh, I _hope_ not. Better go into Tiptoe Mode, just in case."

They padded quietly towards the kitchen door and peered inside. They saw a mop of black hair behind the counter.

"Harry?" Hermione tried tentatively.

The mop of black hair shot up and sparkling green eyes peered over the counter.

"Hermione?"

They winced at his raspy voice.

"Yeah. Draco, too."

"Oh."

They all perched themselves on stools and sat in silence for a while, Harry reaching for a tissue every now and then. He spoke up.

"I hate that old guy."

Hermione and Draco nodded in agreement. Harry continued.

"I mean, who does he think he is? He's not even my guardian. I bet he threatened the Dursleys' not to tell me." He stared at the counter. "Although I don't think they'd tell me either way. But _still_! He should've been _telling_ me, not _hiding_ it. Completely _ridiculous_."

Again, Hermione and Draco nodded. Harry hopped off his stool and got himself a glass of water. He continued after gulping it down.

"And you know, I don't really believe him about me being magic either." He said, suddenly moody. "I'd come up with some really great ideas to come back at him with magic, but I tried so much stuff," he said staring at his hands, "and nothing happened."

Hermione and Draco shook their heads at this.

"No, no, no. We need a wand to do magic. My parents have wands, and they use those. I've heard only really powerful wizards can do wandless magic. And we're still kids." Draco explained.

Harry stared at him, looking even more forlorn. "Where in the world do we get wands from? And you didn't tell me your parents were magical." He looked at Hermione. "Are your parents magical too?"

Draco answered for her. "She's muggleborn."

Hermione and Harry stared at him blankly.

"Muggle. Meaning, uh, the people who don't know about magic."

Hermione looked at him confused. "But Dad knows about magic."

"Only after he found out you were a witch, right?"

"Oh. So, he's an Ex-Muggle?"

"…I guess…?"

Harry wrapped his arms around his knees - somehow managing to fit his small body on the stool – and stared at the ceiling. "I wonder how my parents looked."

They spent a while thinking of how Harry's parents would look, the white envelopes with the scarlet seals on the coffee table forgotten.

* * *

Arabella sat on the sofa, her elbows on her knees and face in her hands, staring at the three eleven year olds sprawled on the mattresses in front of her.

She was still trying to get used to the warm feeling she got in her chest whenever she watched them.

_What am I going to do when they leave? _She thought, gazing down at them_. Will they even want to come back here?_

She let out a little sigh. _Might as well enjoy it while it lasts. One more month._

Arabella let out another sigh and lay back on the sofa, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

* * *

**SOMEONE TELL ME WHO THE NAME OF A SLYTHERIN PREFECT FROM THEIR FIRST YEAR! PLEASE!**

**And suggestions on who Harry should end up with. Please.**

***Thumps chest twice and holds out fist* Peace out.**


	5. Chapter 5

**(Edited)**

**Oh. Em. Gee.**

**I. Actually. Got. Reviews.**

**O^O**

**Sho. Damn. Happy.**

**O^O**

**Special thanks to Oliviaa Rose. I'd thought about Marcus, but I hadn't been sure, so thanks.**

**O^O**

**And just to clear things up, this story is Dramione, even though I love lots of other ships, too. **

**I call it 'Jumping Ships'.**

**O^O**

**And, SassyDoe, thanks for the 'gossip' comment. I am **_**so**_** keeping that in mind for future chapters.**

**O^O**

**Disclaimer: If it's all that necessary, go check chapter 2. Enjoy.**

_**The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words – William H. Gass**_

* * *

"It's raining."

"No duh."

"I asked Arabella and she said we can't go out."

"We _know _that, Harry, we were _there_ when you asked."

"I know, I'm just trying to make you all grouchy and stuff."

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"What is this, Opposite Day?"

"If it _is_, you just said you _love_ me, Hermione."

"…Stop putting my words back in my mouth."

"Stupid."

"Rich, coming from _you_."

Draco got up from his lying down position on the sofa to glare at them.

"Would you two shut up? I'm trying to _think_, here."

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and grinned, turning to Draco.

"Our apologies, young master, we didn't _know_ you could _think_."

"We will keep in mind that you have random moments of _thinking_, and you must realize this is very _hard_ on us, yes, _very_ hard indeed, as we didn't know you could _think_, and-"

"Oh, shut _up_ already."

They snickered.

Arabella walked inside holding four cups of steaming hot chocolate. They scrambled to her, taking all four cups and sitting on the sofa.

Harry held two cups in his hands and made a big show of bringing them both to his mouth at the same time. Arabella snatched a cup from him. "You have your own, Monkey."

Harry stared at her, bemused.

She batted her eyelashes at him.

He pretended to gag.

They sat in silence for a while, just sipping from their cups. Hermione finished hers first.

"So, what do we do now?"

"You could talk about your families." Arabella suggested.

Hermione blinked. "Okay. You first, Bella."

"…I was talking about you guys."

"But I wanna know about yours."

Draco and Harry were staring at her too, now. She sank back into the sofa.

"Nothing interesting, really. I have a younger sister who's a witch. She graduated from Hogwarts just last year. My parent are magical. I lived with them until I was almost nineteen years old, I guess. After that, I lived at university, and eventually bought myself an apartment. A few years later, I came here."

"Don't you get lonely?"

"I have you three, don't I?"

They beamed, and Arabella smiled back.

"So, who's next?"

"Draco!"

Draco made a face. "Why _me_?" he muttered.

He rolled his eyes at Hermione and Harry's eager faces.

"I'm an only child, my parents are both magical, my father works at the ministry and Mother works at home."

Harry and Hermione stared at him.

"Well, go on!"

"That's it."

"That's it?"

"Yup."

They looked put out.

"What a boring life."

He glared. They ignored him.

"Harry, your turn."

"I'm the youngest here, you go first. Besides, it's not like I have anything to tell."

Everyone's eyes darkened.

Harry briefly wondered if he should fear for the Dursleys'. Hermione shook her head a little.

"Fine then. I'm an only child, Mum and Dad divorced when I was about six - I think - because she liked girls or something. I didn't really understand that, but they were still friends and I still visit her sometimes, so it's alright."

She lightly thumped Arabella's back, who seemed to have gotten some hot chocolate stuck in her windpipe at the 'girls' part.

_I had no idea her real mother was a – er – that. Swung that way. Or however a person puts it._

Hermione continued. "Then about half a year later, Dad married Anna, and now five years later, he's getting his second divorce."

Arabella thought she sounded proud.

* * *

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of _WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4\. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

_By Miranda Goshawk _

_A History of Magic_

_By Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory _

_By Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_

_By Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

_By Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions_

_By Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

_By Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

_By Quentin Trimble_

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK

Yours sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

* * *

Harry looked up from his letter. "Are they all the same?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied. "'Cept one of Draco's since Mr. Dumbledore said he got one from his Dad too."

"It's not from Father," Draco said, reading his letter. "It's from Mother."

"Oooo," Hermione peered over his shoulder and skimmed through the letter. "Hey – she says she'll take Draco shopping for his stuff! You think she'll let us come, Blondie?"

Draco barely acknowledged the nickname. "Yeah, I suppose so. You're friends, after all."

Identical grins slowly spread upon Harry and Hermione's faces.

Arabella shot them a warning glance.

"So," Hermione said, looking at her letter again. "Where do we go for all this stuff?"

"Diagon Alley," Draco answered. "Mother's coming tomorrow." He glanced at Harry and Hermione. "You'll have to look a bit more – uh – _neat_. You know, something you haven't been wearing for three days or something."

"He's right, Harry, you smell like a hippo."

Harry scoffed, glaring at Hermione. "Like you're any better."

Hermione looked at Draco. "What about you?" She asked, grinning. "You've become one of us now, Draco. You stink, too. Perhaps even more than Harry."

"I do not!" Draco exclaimed. He then sniffed his pajamas and blanched.

They all roared with laughter.

* * *

Narcissa picked at the collar of her coffee colored jacket, standing outside of the house Dumbledore had informed her of. She found herself liking muggle clothing – they were ridiculously comfortable.

She was looking forward to seeing Draco and was finding keeping calm at the moment difficult. She'd chewed off her husband's head with worry, continuously suggesting they should bring him back and they would be much better protection for him than some squib.

Hearing sudden yelling inside the house, she nervously looked at the window, hoping she hadn't come at the wrong place. Draco _was_ noisy, but there should be a fair amount of children inside to make that much noise.

The door flung open and a sun tanned boy lunged at her, wrapping his arms around her middle. She looked down at the blond head in surprise.

"Draco?"

The boy lifted his head to meet her eyes. A grin was spread over his flour covered face.

"Mother!"

She kneeled down, forgetting all etiquette of a Malfoy after many months, taking his face in her hands, Draco's hands going up to hold her wrists. They both leaned their foreheads together, Narcissa not caring that she was getting flour on herself.

"You look so different – bigger than when I last saw you! And it's been only three months!"

Draco grinned even wider. "Too bad – _you_ look the same, Mother."

She couldn't help but smile. She patted his cheek. "Cheeky boy."

She heard multiple sounds of shutters, and looked up to see a boy and a girl in the doorway holding cameras. They at once hid the cameras behind their backs when she looked up. They smiled innocently.

She raised an eyebrow and stood up, taking Draco's hand. "Are they your friends?"

"_Best_ friends in fact – don't tell them I said that. They're pig-headed enough about it already."

She smiled softly and let Draco lead her into the house.

The boy and girl at once started chatting.

"Hello Missus, Draco's told us _so_ much about you! I'm Hermione Granger, pleasure to meet you!"

"And I'm Harry! Potter, Harry, Harry Potter I mean –"

Narcissa turned to Harry in surprise. "Are you, now?" She said, searching his forehead.

Sure enough, there was a scar. She was rendered speechless for a moment.

_The Chosen One is living between Muggles?_

Hermione took her other hand. "Don't mind him, he gets really egotistic at moments like that. Come on in and meet Bella!"

Narcissa found she would believe anything at the moment, half wondering if she would come face-to-face with her sister.

Thankfully, she didn't.

* * *

The three children sat on stools in the kitchen, having put the pizzas in the oven, now watching Arabella and Narcissa in amusement.

"Oh, I talk to Lucius all the time – about almost _everything_. Drives him crazy, really."

"I'll bet – I had a boyfriend in university, and although he was a great gentleman, he would get seriously annoyed when I went into one of my ramblings."

Narcissa scoffed, wiping one of the counters. "_Men_."

"Exactly."

Harry spoke up. "Hey, I take offense in that."

"You're still a kid – we're going to have to raise you properly."

Then they proceeded to launch into _yet_ another conversation – this time about muggle clothes.

"How long have they been going on?" Draco asked.

Hermione checked the clock on the kitchen wall. "About an hour."

"I didn't know it was possible to have so many conversations in just an hour."

Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Wanna watch a movie?"

"…What about the pizza?"

At the word 'pizza', both women scrambled to the oven in horror. Harry peered from behind them.

"They're alive!" He announced.

Hermione and Draco came up to eye the pizzas, their mouths watering from the smell.

"No _kidding_."

* * *

"I don't _have_ to wear a jacket! _Or_ a hoodie! It's not even _cold_ out!"

Arabella sighed. "Just wear the hoodie, Harry, you won't die from sudden heat stroke."

Harry glared at the green hoodie. "It's _boiling_."

Hermione tapped her foot impatiently.

"Harry, we're getting _late_. Just wear the stupid thing – it's almost four already."

"It's green."

"I thought you _liked_ green!"

"Yeah, well, not _this_ green."

Narcissa came out of the bathroom, wiping her wet hands on her jeans. "Is everyone ready?"

"Harry's not wearing his jack-"

"I dunno what you're talking about, Hermione."

She rolled her eyes, knowing he was wearing it so Narcissa would like him – he adored her already. "Uh huh."

"Mhm."

"Right, then," Narcissa said, pulling on her coat and walking towards the fireplace. "I'll go first, send the kids after me. Are you sure you don't want to come?" She asked Arabella.

"Yeah, I'm sure. There's a lot of work to be done and stuff. I'm sure you'll be able to manage fine."

"Alright, then." Narcissa took a pinch of floo powder from the mantle and stepped into the fireplace.

"_Diagon Alley!_"

* * *

"That guy's a drama queen."

"Who, the wand dude? Olivia?"

"_Ollivandar_."

"Oh. Yeah, he was. Seems like all British people are, really. You remember when we first met Draco?"

Hermione snickered. "_Exactly_ my point."

Draco rolled his eyes. "We're at the pet shop, you guys gonna buy one?"

Hermione looked at him proudly. "He's become one of us so quick – he used to say 'going to'. Now look at him. '_Gonna'_. A true American."

"Oh, shut _up_."

"Of course, your highness."

Harry was in the midst of a staring contest with an owl. "If I lose this contest, I'm buying this owl."

"You're buying it, then. No way anyone can win over an owl."

Harry blinked and the owl looked at him with a smug face. Harry gazed at in disbelief. "It's _laughing_ at me. I'm being _laughed_ at by a freaking _owl_." He rummaged his pockets searching for money.

Hermione called over to him. "Harry, exactly how much money did you get from Gringotts?"

"Dunno!"

She turned to Narcissa. "You think I should buy an animal?"

"Well," Narcissa began. "It isn't exactly necessary, and since Harry and Draco have both bought an owl each, I'm sure they'll share."

"I thought so."

Narcissa took Hermione's hand. "Come on, boys, we need to shop for robes, now."

"Yes Ma'am."

Harry ran a finger through the owl he'd just lost to.

"I'm gonna name her Hedwig."

* * *

"…I've never seen such red hair in my life."

"Me neither."

Harry poked Draco. "Who is he?"

They all stood behind a stand of robes, peering through the black drapes at a very red haired boy across the street, inside Flourish and Blotts.

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure he's from the Weasleys' family. They all have red hair – seven kids, I think."

"_Woah_."

Draco looked unimpressed. "They're all dorks."

"And who are _you_ to judge them?"

He winced. "Sorry, Mother."

Her blue eyes softened and she went back to looking through robes. "Mhm."

Draco turned back to watch the red headed boy, ignoring Harry and Hermione's snickers.

"_What_ a Mama's _boy_."

* * *

**And that's it!**

**Hope you enjoyed it.**

**Cookies go to Oliviaa Rose and SassyDoe.**

**Btw, I'd really appreciate it if someone could find me all the people from Harry's year - for the sorting hat and all. And alphabetical order, if possible. I tried searching, but it's like nothing comes up!**

**So annoyin'.**

**And, which house should I put Hermione in? I'm putting Harry in Slytherin, but for Hermione, I'm stuck on Ravenclaw and Slytherin.**

***Sigh***

**Peace out.**


	6. Chapter 6

**(Edited)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP.**

* * *

_**A true piece of writing is a dangerous thing, it can change your life – Tobias Wolff**_

* * *

Hermione clutched Dan tightly.

"I'll miss you, Dad."

Dan messed up her hair. "I'll miss you too, baby. Write every week, yeah?"

"I'll write every _day_, if I can."

"That's my girl."

"You can stop rubbing my head now, I'm sure it looks worse than Mum's."

He smirked.

She went over to Arabella next, squeezing her even tighter.

"Thanks for letting me stay with you, Bella."

"'Tis no problem, pumpkin."

Hermione looked up. "Don't cry – we'll be staying at yours for Christmas! Just four more months!"

"I am _not_ crying."

"Yeah, and we're all blind." Came Harry's voice from behind them.

"_Do_ shut up."

The train let out a roar. Narcissa and Draco came up to them. "Train's about to leave, better get on now."

"Bye Missus Cissy."

"Goodbye, friends of my son."

They stared at her with identically bemused looks.

"I'm _joking_, now get on."

They all scrambled inside, the platform only holding adults now.

Harry started looking for empty cabins, the other two following his lead.

"This one's full."

"This one, too."

"We're gonna end up standing the whole way."

Harry peeked inside another cabin.

"Hey – this one's empty."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get in before someone comes."

The three scurried inside, setting their luggage up on the shelves. They somehow managed to stick their heads out of the window, managing to wave at the three adults outside. They flopped onto the seats when the train started moving.

Hermione looked up at their luggage. "Hey – whose bag is that?"

They looked up.

"Not mine."

"Not mine, either."

"Great – someone was here before us. We're going to have to leave."

Draco rolled his eyes. "What was that Muggle saying? 'Finders keepers, loser's weepers'?"

"…He's evil."

"I learned from the best."

"Should we be flattered?"

"Take it as you want – you can't make me say I'm complimenting you."

Hermione reached up to one of her bags, taking out _Hogwarts: A History_. She rolled her eyes when both boys scooted away a bit.

"I was just going to check if Muggle devices are allowed – I'd meant to check, but forgot."

At that moment, they heard some laughing outside, the door of the cabin being opened by two identical red haired boys, their arms full of candy. Thered-heads stared at the three eleven year olds with glittering brown eyes, their eyebrows raised.

"Well, look what we have here, George,"

"Seems like we have a bunch of cabin thieves, Freddie."

The twins grinned.

"What should we do with them?"

Hermione looked at them uncomfortably. "Could you please stop talking like that? It's creepy."

"Wait a second,"

"Looks like we've got the Malfoy Spawn!"

One of them turned to Hermione, the other to Harry.

"And who might,"

"You two be?"

Harry grinned. "We happen to be _friends_ of The Malfoy Spawn."

"Well, friends of The Malfoy Spawn,"

"Care to tell us your names?"

"Only if you two stop talking like that." Hermione repeated.

The twins glanced at each other and shrugged.

"Fair enough."

One of them plopped himself between Hermione and Draco, while the other one sat next to Harry, dumping all the candy in his arms between them. The one in the middle of Draco and Hermione spoke up.

"I'm Fred."

"And I'm George."

"Weasley."

"Hermione Granger."

"Draco Malfoy."

"Harry Potter."

"…You don't expect us to believe that, do you?"

"You don't even have a scar – at least, _I_ can't see one."

Harry looked at them warily. "Fine. Don't believe me. I'll be just Harry right now. You can decide whether I was lying or not at the sorting ceremony."

"Alright, then."

Draco scrutinized the twins. "You're not going to throw us out, are you?"

"Of _course_ not."

"…Okay."

They sat in an awkward silence for a while. As usual, Hermione was the first to speak up.

"Which house are you two in?"

"Ravenclaw."

"I don't believe you."

George grinned. "Most don't, really, since we're from the Weasley clan, and they usually all end up in Gryffindor. We happen to be special – actually having brains and all."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay, then."

Fred tilted his head a little. "You three speak strange."

"Americans."

"Oh, I _see_."

"Technically, you _heard_. That reminds me, do they allow Muggle devices in Hogwarts?"

The twins sighed. "Unfortunately, they don't."

They all three gaped openly.

"You're _kidding_."

"Uh – no, we aren't. Besides, why would The Malfoy Spawn want Muggle devices?"

"My _name_ is _Draco_."

They looked at him innocently. "Our apologies, Malfoy Spawn."

Hermione spluttered. "This is horrible-"

"We won't even be able to use our mobiles-"

"We're going to have to tell Bella not to send our laptop-"

"We're gonna have _nothing_ to do _all_ _year_ but _study_-"

"-I feel like I'm dying already-"

"Oh God, _why_-"

The twins stared at them, caught between amusement and sympathy.

"You three are worse than Dad – here, have some candy. Chocolate frogs always cheer up a person."

They sulkily accepted the candies.

* * *

And were regretting it a few hours later.

Harry groaned. "I'm going to throw up."

Hermione whimpered. "Me too…"

Fred rolled his eyes. "_Freshmen_."

George hummed in agreement, rubbing Draco's back – who had turned a-not-very-good-green.

Hermione glanced at her watch with a pained look. "We're going to arrive soon – I'm going to go change."

She fled.

Harry stood up shakily, taking Draco's arm. "We're going, too."

They fled.

"Don't end up in the girls' compartment!" George yelled after them.

"Well, seems like it's just you and me again, brother."

"They seem interesting, don't they?"

"They do indeed."

Two pairs of brown eyes glinted.

* * *

The four boys had been cleaning up the many wrappers and boxes into a bag, when Hermione stormed back to the cabin, seething.

She glared at Draco.

"You're _mother_," she said, scowling deeply, "put a freaking _skirt_ in place of the pants, _even_ when I told her I _hate_ them."

Draco stared back at her warily. "And you want me to do what, exactly…?"

"Give me the bloody spare uniform you have in your trunk."

"Sure."

George blinked. "What's so wrong with skirts? All girls wear them."

Harry shot him a warning look. Hermione glared scathingly at George.

"What would _you_ know? You're just a _boy_."

"Right, and that-" Harry cut George off, sending a frantic look at him. "You're right, Hermione, he's just a boy, he wouldn't know anything at all-"

"Yeah, and you're _so_ different." She snapped sarcastically.

Draco hurriedly gave her his spare uniform. "Here, you better go change now, we'll be arriving soon, you can give me the previous one, we'll fold it, yeah, here, only a few minutes left, go -"

Hermione gave George one last glare and slammed the door shut.

Harry and Draco sagged back into their seats. Fred and George stared at them, bemused.

"She's got you two _whipped_."

"_You_ guys try living with her."

"…I'll pass."

"Yeah, me too."

Draco snorted.

"No wonder you didn't get sorted into Gryffindor."

"Oh, very _funny_."

* * *

"Hannah Abbott."

The blond haired girl shakily walked towards the stool, flinching visibly when the hat was place on her head. The entire hall was dead silent.

"_Hufflepuff_!"

She beamed, scurrying towards the Hufflepuffs' table.

"Terry Boot."

Hermione tilted her head. "She's sorting them alphabetically by our last names." She paled. "I'm going to be called first in us three, then."

"_Ravenclaw_!"

Draco patted her shoulder. She glanced at Harry, who was trying to somehow manage to flatten his hair – which was really just making it worse.

"Susan Bones."

"What if we're not in the same house?"

"_Hufflepuff_!"

Harry stared at her. She'd never been so – _worrieful_ – before, always smiling and everything. Draco looked at her from the corner of his eye, trying to work out why she looked like a lost puppy. He blinked.

_She's worried we won't be friends anymore._

He poked her shoulder, firmly keeping his eyes in front of him, praying no one would notice his warm cheeks.

"We'll still be friends, so you don't have to worry. Besides, I don't think we can get rid of you that easily, anyway." He mumbled.

Harry nodded. "Besides, who's going to help us with homework?"

Hermione's heart hadn't felt that warm in a long time.

"Okay."

"Hermione Granger."

She steeled herself, hiding her nervousness and walked towards the stool. She glanced at the Sorting Hat.

It was smirking.

She narrowed her eyes, her nervousness disappearing and sat on the stool firmly. Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head and stepped back.

_Well, I haven't seen such an_ unorganized_ mind in a _very_ long time._

Hermione blinked. _Unorganized?_

_Yes, unorganized. Your thoughts are flying everywhere. Even worse, since your mind is filled with to the brim. Well, I suppose I should choose a house for you now…_

A few seconds ticked by.

…_This is harder than I thought. _

_Well, if it helps, I thought this would be more interesting. No offense, but you're kinda just sitting on my head._

She could practically feel the hat rolling its eyes. If it had eyes, that is.

_Americans,_ thought the hat, amused. _You, little girl, seem to have bravery, cunning, brains, loyalty, but above all, brains and cunning top most. So, either Ravenclaw or Slytherin._

_Slytherin?_

_I'm thinking Slytherin might be the best deal – a Muggleborn could teach them a lesson or two._

Her eyes found Draco and Harry's in the sea of kids in front of her, knowing there was a 99 percent chance of Draco ending up in Slytherin.

_Where are you going to put Harry?_

_The Potter boy? Judging from what I can calculate about him in your thoughts, he could end up anywhere as well. His least chances are Ravenclaw, though I can't know without reading his thoughts._

_You mean sitting on his head._

_I was trying to avoid putting it that way, but, yes. Sitting on his head. You will have to choose fast girl, the Headmaster's trying to get me to put you in Hufflepuff._

She wet her lips, pushing aside her confusion_. I'll take Slytherin._

_Wise choice._

Her eyes widened at the hat's sly voice_. Wait, they won't-_

"_Slytherin_!"

Hermione swallowed, tentatively walking towards the Slytherin table. She sat down next to a boy, who would've looked better if his teeth weren't crooked. He grinned at her.

"Marcus Flint. Prefect. Welcome to Slytherin." A few other people nodded their heads at her.

"Nice to meet you."

She turned around so she would be able to see Harry and Draco sorted.

"Who ya lookin' at?"

She glanced at him.

"Harry and Draco. Friends."

He raised his eyebrows at the last word. "Oh."

"Draco Malfoy." Minerva called out.

She half thought about hanging over Marcus to see better.

Time had never gone so slow before.

She crossed her fingers, counting every second that went by.

_73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 7- _

"_Slytherin_!"

Hermione punched Marcus on the arm. "_Yes_!"

Draco had a look of utter relief on his face and seemed to scurry away from the hat. He walked over to the Slytherin table, grinning widely. "Dumb luck, I should say."

Hermione snickered. "Nah, you're a Malfoy. You guys are destined to be Slytherin."

Draco looked pained. "_Don't_ remind me."

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"I'll tell you later."

They watched as more children were called up and sorted.

"Pansy Parkinson."

Slytherin.

They sat up straighter.

"Padma Patil."

Ravenclaw.

Hermione crossed her fingers again.

"Parvati Patil."

Gryffindor.

"Harry Potter." Minerva called out.

The quiet chatter in the hall disappeared. Hermione and Draco held their breath as Harry walked – _strutted_ – to the stool.

"Well, he's not worried." Marcus muttered.

_Oh, he is,_ thought Hermione and Draco.

A whole minute passed.

And another.

And _yet_ another.

"_Hufflepuff_!"

Draco and Hermione fell off their seats. Harry's face was one of utter horror.

"Slytherin, _Slytherin_! Take a joke," the Sorting Hat cackled.

Hermione stood up on her seat indignantly and cupped her mouth. "That was _not_ _funny_!" A few people roared in agreement.

She spotted Fred and George at the Ravenclaw table. They waved at her, grinning.

Harry practically _ran_ to the Slytherin table, the whole of his face bright, his eyes glowing like a cat's. He plopped himself between Draco and Hermione, grinning as some people clapped his back and welcomed him.

Hermione looked up at the teachers' table, her grin falling a bit when she saw Dumbledore's mouth set in a grim line. A black haired teacher a few seats to his left was smirking.

_I guess he didn't want Harry to go to Slytherin…? Oh well._

The list of children to be sorted eventually reached to an end.

"Blaise Zabini."

"_Slytherin_!"

The three clapped, along with the rest of the Slytherin table as the dark skinned boy sat at the table. Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat in front of Dumbledore and took a seat next to him. Albus stood up and said his few words then spread his arms, the food appearing.

Harry's gaped at the food, Hermione and Draco's mouths watering. Harry began piling up his plate.

"Now to see if this food is better than Bella's or not."

"We'll _never_ be able to have one of everything!"

"There's always tomorrow!"

* * *

**Hope y'all enjoyed it!**

**Thanks go to Oliviaa Rose and SassyDoe.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: See chapter two.**

* * *

_**The desire to write grows with writing – Desiderius E. **_

* * *

"It was going to put me in Gryffindor.

"No!"

"_Yes_."

Hermione and Harry cracked up, rolling on the carpet and making the few people left in the Slytherin common room look at them in either amusement or annoyance.

"Your father would have _so_ _much_ to say about that!"

"You think _I -_ of all people - wouldn't know that?"

Hermione's laughter quietened down to giggles. "I still can't believe we all got into the same house." She said, looking up at the ceiling of the dungeons with a smile.

"Yeah."

Harry yawned, and soon they all couldn't stop. Marcus came up to them with an amused look.

"You three should go to bed now. Being a first year doesn't mean you get tomorrow off."

They gave him sleepy grins. "Yes, Captain."

"You can follow Gab over there – she'll take you to the girls' dorms." He said to Hermione, who waved at them and followed the Gabriella. Marcus then turned to Harry and Draco. "You two can follow me."

* * *

The few minutes' silence was broken by a loud snore. Draco sighed for the umpteenth time.

Harry threw his pillow to the foot of his bed, propping up his elbows on it and looked at Draco across him.

"I can't sleep."

Draco felt a sense of déjà vu fall over him.

"Me neither. Should we go get Hermione?"

"…Won't she be asleep already?"

Draco snorted. "Nah."

"We won't be allowed in the girls' dorms."

"We're just going to have to go and see for ourselves."

"What if one of them wakes up?" Harry asked, his eyes darting between Vincent, Gregory and Blaise's beds.

"I doubt _those_ two will wake up," Draco said, eyeing the beds of Vincent and Gregory, "and Blaise seemed really tired, so he's not likely to wake up either."

"Alright."

They pulled off their covers, grabbed their, pillows and ran to the common room as quietly as possible.

"Figures you'd be waiting for us."

Hermione yawned and put down her book. "I was beginning to think you guys weren't coming."

"Sofa?"

"Sofa pillows."

They set down a few pillows from the sofas, too tired to do anything else and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

"They seem really close, don't they?"

Flora Carrow tilted her head at her sister's words, staring at the mess of limbs on the scattered sofa pillows.

"They do."

"It would be fun to watch them being separated."

Gemma looked at them disapprovingly, tying her back her short hair. "Don't do anything to them," she advised the twins, "they might as well have this while it lasts."

Zoe came in, applying eyeliner. "I'd like to think that they remain friends. I didn't think we three would last this long, yet here we are."

Zubeida rolled her eyes.

"So," began Gemma, "who's going to wake them up?"

The Carrow twins looked at her slyly.

* * *

Harry, Hermione and Draco rushed into the Great Hall, their robes and hair in a disarray. They scurried over to sit around Marcus. Terrence Higgs raised an eyebrow at them.

"There's this really _evil_ girl in the common room-" Harry panted, "really, _really_, evil, she got into our minds or somethin' and I got this _horrible_ picture of some _dude_ in a _tutu_ – God, it was _horrendous_-"

Hermione and Draco vigorously nodded their heads, breathing hard. Hermione looked towards the entrance of the Great Hall and yelped.

"There are _two_ of her – she's – _they_ – they're coming _right this way_!" She exclaimed in horror.

They dived under the table, coming up at the other side, balking when the Carrow twins switched lanes and were now walking towards where they were standing.

Harry raced after Hermione and Draco who were running towards the Ravenclaw table, set on getting as far as possible from the Slytherin devils. They spotted Fred and George and sat firmly across them, their backs to the wall, having a nearly full view of the whole hall. Fred and George looked at them curiously.

"I'm not telling."

"Me neither."

"Did you say something? Afraid I can't hear you, my tummy seems to be roaring."

The twins looked at them sympathetically.

"That bad?"

"You have _no_ idea."

Severus was struggling.

He hated it when that happened, as if it was something that wasn't a part of him, and would decide to jump on him at the most terrible moments.

Severus could only remember a few times he'd struggled – one of them was and would be forever sketched into his memory – Lily's death.

Another moment was a bit after that, when Sirius had been taken to Azkaban. He'd known there was no way Sirius would kill his best friend's family, so he'd submitted himself in as anonymous and spoke up for his arch-nemesis before he changed his mind.

He'd spoken about it to Dumbledore when he'd failed – keeping it secret that he'd submitted himself – and was shocked when Dumbledore did nothing about it.

So he'd taken it up on himself, secretly working on Sirius' case. For Lily, he'd kept telling himself.

He wasn't sure who he was doing it for, now.

Another moment was, again, when Lily had died – not her _death_, but her _boy_. It was a moment of where he went all _'To grab or not to grab?'_

The blasted baby had looked at him with Lily's teary eyes, and the decision had been made.

And then Dumbledore had literally snatched him away, just when he was starting to like him. It had taken him a whole week to get used to being without the stupid baby. Then he'd spent another week sulking, making Dumbledore go all '_For the Greater Good'_ and '_Have you started to _like_ him, Severus?_' on him. So he'd shut up.

Only way Albus would shut up, anyway.

And now he was struggling again. His first potion class with the first years' was beginning in less than half an hour, and he was _not_ looking forward to it – or Harry – _or_ his Godson – or _any_ of the new students. He just wanted to grab a few bottles, crawl into his room and stay there till the year ended.

Severus eyed the Dreamless Potion that sat in one of his cabinets and sighed. He pocketed it, knowing he'd need it tonight.

He looked _so fucking _much like his _father_, it made him _so_ _angry_, thinking of James _all_ _over_ _again_-

_Calm the fuck down, Severus._

He closed his eyes briefly, counting to five. He reopened them.

And started all over again.

_Stupid Potter, stupid boy, fucking glasses, rotten black hair-_

_This is _not_ working._

And then the godforsaken boy beamed at him.

_Beamed_.

_I think I need a few of Albus' lemon drops_, he thought, slightly frantic, opening his drawer. He discreetly put two in his mouth. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and began the class.

By having some fun with the blasted boy.

"Potter!" he began, moving the lemon drops to one side in his mouth, "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry blanched.

Draco and Hermione sent him sympathetic looks.

* * *

"He _hates_ me! The head of my own house _hates_ me! _Why_?!"

Draco and Hermione ignored him, continuing their potions essay.

"You guys are supposed to be my _friends_!"

Hermione sighed and looked up at Harry, who sat on a chair, sulking.

"We care, Harry, seriously – but you can't expect _us_ to know why he doesn't like you."

"I haven't even _done_ anything!"

Draco smirked, hiding his face behind a book. "Maybe that's why."

"That doesn't even make _sense_, and you _know_ it!"

"Relax, it's only been a week. He'll warm up to you, sooner or later."

A few minutes later, Hermione finished her potions essay and started on transfiguration. She looked at Harry again, rolling her eyes when she saw a Quidditch magazine in his hands.

"Shouldn't you be doing your potions essay?"

Harry peeked at her from the top of the magazine and looked back down. "Snape'll probably just say everything's wrong."

"Is that what he did last time?"

"…No."

"Then do it."

"Yes, Mom."

"Shut up."

Draco tensed. "Is someone staring at me?"

Hermione looked behind him and tensed too. "Carrow twins." She mumbled.

"Ugh."

Draco snatched the magazine from Harry.

"_Hey_!"

"If you do your potions essay, we'll be able to go visit Hagrid."

"…I hate you."

"Uh huh."

* * *

"Well, I reckon it was 'cause of yer father, 'Arry." Hagrid rumbled, as he added a suspicious looking mixture of yellow and green powder into their cups.

Harry stared at him blankly. "My Father."

"Aye. Didn' get along, Snape an' James, always at each other's throats."

"…Wow."

"Got even worse when Lily wen' out with James. Liked her, I think."

"…Oh, _gross_."

Hagrid stared at them sternly from bushy eyebrows. "'E's a good man – was friends with Lily before they came to 'Ogwarts. Fought with 'er one day, an' it all jus' wen' down."

Hermione cocked her head. "That's a bit sad, really."

Hagrid grunted in agreement, handing them their cups, that now held a strange bright blue color. They peered inside the cups suspiciously.

Harry took the first sip tentatively, making sure Hagrid's back was to him. Hermione and Draco watched him anxiously.

He nodded at them a minute after his first sip, confirming it was good. They drank in quiet for a while, the only noises being Fang's occasional whining and Hagrid's breathing. All in all, peaceful.

Too bad peace never lasts long.

* * *

They'd returned when the sun had started to set, heading to the common room so Draco and Harry could finish their transfiguration essays. And now they were lost.

They couldn't believe it.

"I can't _believe_ we actually managed to get lost, after being here for more than a _week_." Harry moaned.

Hermione looked around them.

"We might not be lost."

"Oh yeah?"

"Just on the third-floor corridor."

"…Tell me you're joking," Harry said in horror, "I don't want to die yet, I'm too young, I have my whole _life_ ahead of me-"

Draco scowled. "Oh, shut _up_, we're _not_ going to _die_."

"Hopefully." Hermione muttered.

* * *

They panted, dragging Ron's frozen body between them.

"How much," Hermione wheezed, "does this guy _eat_?"

"Maybe he was just born this way," Draco scowled, dragging one of Ron's legs, "You know, weighing like bricks, and all that."

"Just one more corner guys," Harry whispered loudly from ahead of them – they'd sent him first in case someone –_ Filch_ – found them.

"See, there's the fat lady!"

Said Lady frowned. "What are you three doing up so late?" She eyed Ron. "What happened to him?"

"Nothing!" Hermione said hurriedly. "He'll just be frozen for a while, nothing serious. Will you open up so we can get him in?"

The Fat Lady stared at her.

"You're in Slytherin, dear, can't expect me to really open up now, can you?"

"Oh, come on!" Harry cried. "Just open the door a little, and we'll just throw him in!"

"I'm sorry, no password, no entry."

Draco gave her a look filled with shame. "You won't even grant entry to one from your own house?" He shook his head. "Let's go guys, we'll just take him back to Slytherin."

Harry and Hermione stared at him.

"We'll just tell Professor Dumbledore she didn't let Ron in – I wonder what he'd do, don't you?"

There was an indignant squeak.

Draco smirked.

And right that moment came a cat round the corner, its eyes glowing red.

* * *

"Run _faster_, he'll be coming any moment-"

"Well, if this _loaf_ wasn't here, we'd be able to go _faster_-"

"We can't just _leave_ him-"

"There was a _reason_ we weren't sorted into Hufflepuff, Harry-"

"Besides, it _was_ his fault-"

"Who sent him to follow us, anyway?"

"_Stupid_ stalker-"

They screeched to a halt in front of a wall.

"Dead end, he's going to get us now-"

"That I _am."_ Came a voice that sounded like bland milk with rotten bits of mold cheese at the bottom.

The three flinched, dropping Ron's limbs and turning around to face the janitor of Hogwarts. Filch stood there with his face set in an evil grin, Mrs. Norris in his arms. She jumped down and Filch gave them another slinky smile before he followed after her.

He chuckled as he walked away. "We'll see who's most eager for you four in the Forbidden Forest, heh?"

Ron came to.

"Wha's going on…?"

He blanched when three pairs of glowing eyes glared at him.

"This is all _your_ fault, _Weasley_-"

"I've never gotten a single detention in my _life_-"

"Me neither-"

"I freakin' _hate_ him," Harry fumed, pointing a finger where Filch had just left, "_and_ I freakin' hate that _creature_ he calls a _cat_, too." He turned to Ron. "And at the moment, we _all_ hate you."

Ron indignantly opened his mouth, and promptly shut it again.

"Sorry…?" he said in a mixture of muttering and squeaking.

Hermione snorted.

* * *

**(Don't leave me, you all.)**

**Peace out.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer : See Chapter two.**

* * *

_**I am by nature a dealer in words, and words are the most powerful drug known to humanity - Rudyard Kipling **_

* * *

"I don't _want_ to fly."

This was the closest they'd ever seen Hermione come close to whining.

"Why not?"

"I just don't."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "You tell _us_ not to come up with excuses that have no reason behind them."

Hermione gave him a sideways glare. "So?"

"_So_, you should have a _reason_, _right_?"

She dropped her gaze and picked her nails. "Yeah."

"You going to tell us the reason or do I have to take you to Fluffy?" Harry made a face. "I still can't believe Hagrid talks about him like some pet."

"I don't want to."

"…What?"

"That's my reason."

"Hermione!" Harry cried exasperation. "Look, just come with us, we can tell Professor Hooch you're sick or something."

"It's not even necessary for me to come!"

"But we want you to come," Harry whined, "Who else is going to yell at me if I do something wrong?"

Apparently, Harry had grown sick of the looks of awe and envy in just a few days. He practically ran away from anyone who asked for an autograph, now.

"Draco can."

"As if I'm going to let him yell at me."

Draco's eyebrow twitched. He set the Quidditch magazine in his hands down, stood up, grabbed Hermione's hand and began to drag her out of the empty – save Harry and them – common room. Harry followed them. Hermione looked flustered.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking you to Professor Hooch's class."

"But I said I don't –"

"I heard you clearly the first time, Granger. Doesn't mean I'm going to listen."

Hermione's cheeks puffed out in annoyance. "Who do you think you are, Draco Malf-"

"I'm your best friend."

Hermione blinked, feeling her cheeks go warm in an alien way. She gazed at Draco, but he was firmly avoiding her gaze, looking straight ahead.

Harry stared at them, feeling very much like an awkward outsider. Draco's words replayed in his head.

"Hey! Who the heck am _I_, then?!"

"A nobody."

"You _jerk_! Take that back, or I _swear_ I will kick your bu-"

He didn't notice they'd reached outside. Professor Hooch looked at him disapprovingly.

"That will do, Mr. Potter."

Harry beamed at her.

"Sorry Professor, just got a little carried away," He managed to say in his most British voice, "Just a little fun, really. No harm at all."

She eyed him skeptically.

He gave her the CPS - Charming Potter Smile. Draco stifled a snort while Hermione struggled to keep her smile under control.

While everyone took their places next to their broomsticks, Hermione – did she just imagine it, or did Ronald just give them the Evil Eye – specifically Harry? She blinked. He seemed to be glaring at his broom now.

…_Why's he glaring at his broom? He's even more gaga about Quidditch and flying than Harry and Draco are. _She rolled her eyes_. Boys._

She took a place on the grass, a bit behind Madam Hooch and opened her transfigurations book. A while passed in peace – then she heard yelling. She looked up to see Harry – her eye twitched – and Ronald in the air, a crowd below them. And no Madam Hooch.

She placed a bookmark in her book and scurried over to the only familiar blond head in the middle of the crowd, shoving through eager faces.

"What happened?" she asked, looking through the students.

Draco rolled his eyes at Harry and Ron. "Broom went out of control, Longbottom's arm broke, Professor took him to the hospital wing, Weasley took Longbottom's Remembrall, Harry went all action movie on him, both flew up and now here we are." He paused for a moment then glanced at Hermione slyly. "Then this creature came up to me - you should've seen its fur, all bushy and standing up – and it spoke in a really squeaky voice-"

Hermione punched him lightly on the arm. "How _amusing_," she said in a dry voice.

"I _know_."

She rolled her eyes and looked up at the sudden cheering, almost face palming at seeing Harry's triumphant face. They turned around as the cheering slowly died down. There came their Head striding towards them, looking livid.

"Potter," Snape snapped, "Come with me. _Now_."

Harry shoved Neville's Remembrall into Hermione's hand and trailed after Snape, his shoulders hunched.

Draco and Hermione looked at each other uneasily.

"I feel bad."

"Yeah."

"…Should we follow?"

"Thought you wouldn't ask."

"Oh, puh-_lease_."

* * *

Hermione and Draco skidded to a halt around a corner, missing Snape and Harry narrowly. They anxiously watched them around the bend.

"Why in the world is he calling out _Marcus_? From DADA lessons, no less."

"_I_ wouldn't know."

"You don't know anything." Hermione muttered.

"Ex_cuse_ me?"

"'Scused."

"You can be _so_ annoy-"

"I introduce to you, our new team Seeker."

"_What_?" Hermione squeaked.

Draco had a mixture of bewilderment and awe on his face. "No _way_."

Snape looked ridiculously pleased with himself.

* * *

"I can't believe it!"

"And here we thought he _hated_ you!"

Harry nodded dazedly. "Yeah."

Draco and Hermione plopped down on either side of him and began to shoo people away from where they were sitting on the Slytherin table.

"The new Seeker needs some time to himself now, folks-"

"That's right, give him some space-"

"Let'm breathe-"

"_Silencio_."

Draco looked at Hermione incredulously, speaking words without sounds. Hermione smiled.

"Oh, I'm just practicing. Besides, it's so much more peaceful now, don't you think, Harry?"

"Yeah."

"…You're really out of it."

Harry looked sheepish. "Sorry."

Hermione tilted her head at him, while Draco fumed.

"Why are you so intent on getting Professor Snape's approval?" Hermione asked, her head tilted.

Harry blinked then stared at her. "I don't."

"You do."

Draco was listening eagerly.

"Do I really?"

"Yeah."

"…Nah, I really don't."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You do. You get really sulky whenever he snaps at you, and it's like you kinda shine when he compliments you. As much as he _can_ compliment someone, anyway."

"…You make me sound like some sick fangirl."

Draco quietly snickered.

"I don't know, really," Harry mumbled, "It's just that – I probably sound crazy, but – I really don't know. It's like there's some type of thread connecting us."

Draco seemed to be coughing really hard.

Hermione pressed her lips together in an attempt to not laugh. "Should I swoon?"

Harry looked horrified. "Oh God, not like _that_. It's just – like I said, I don't know. Something like how Draco is like whenever Uncle Lucius compliments or insults him."

Draco stared at him bemused.

Hermione blinked. "Wow, you and Draco – yeah, that actually _is_ similar. You look up to Professor Snape as a father or something…?" She grimaced. "You couldn't choose anyone who actually liked you?"

"Oh, shut up."

Fred and George came up to them.

"Heard you were,"

"Elected as seeker!"

Hermione grimaced. "I thought we agreed you two wouldn't talk like that."

"Sorry, sorry,"

"Have to keep up our reputation."

"I didn't know you had one." Harry said, pretending to look surprised.

"Yeah, Harry, because that is just _so_ _funny_."

"Sorry guys."

After a while of talking about stuff varying from school subjects to pranks, they went up to their respectable common rooms.

Hermione transfiguring some cushions into small mattresses – something they were thankful for to the Head of Gryffindor – and lay down. Draco stood over her and glared. She blinked.

"Oh, right, the silencing spell – uh," she grinned sheepishly. "I'm not sure how to undo it. Yet."

Draco stared at her for a while in disbelief. Then he jumped at her.

Harry joined the brawl and they kept at it until Zoe hollered at them to cut it out – giving back Draco his voice, too – saying some people needed their 'fucking beauty sleep'.

They stayed silent until Zoe went back to the girl' dorms.

"Dude, she said the 'f' word."

"_Seriously_, Harry?"

"My _voice_, my beautiful _voice_-"

"Draco, I _swear_, you can be _such_ a _drama_ queen."

"Oh yeah? _You_ try losing _your_ voice. And _me_ being the one who does it."

"…I'd rather you not do it now, if you don't mind. I'd probably end up losing my voice in real."

"…Hermione, my _ego_."

"Ah. Sorry."

Harry grimaced again. Hermione sighed.

"_Relax_, Harry, we're going, too."

"I know, I know, just – not good memories, yeah?"

"…Stupid Dursleys."

"Freakin' hate them."

Harry looked at them, smiling exasperatedly.

"Forget it. Besides, Ronald's gonna be there, too, so I won't be able to focus on the darkness. Besides, who better to tease than a red-faced Weasley?"

"Right."

Filch came walking towards them then, his back hunched and a gleeful smile on his face. Ron trailed behind him sullenly.

"Let's take you to the big oaf, then. Wouldn't want you to be late for _detention_ in the _Forbidden_ _Forest_ now, would we?"

"_I_ wouldn't mind." Draco said, distastefully. Harry and Ron vigorously nodded their heads.

Right that moment, Hagrid came up with Fang. He looked at the four kids sympathetically.

"I'll take 'em from here, Argus."

Filch looked extremely disappointed.

They walked towards the forest, Hagrid reassuring them that the forest wasn't all that scary. Upon arriving, he split them up.

"Aright, then, 'Ermione an' Draco can go with Fang, 'ere, Ron an' 'Arry come with me. Yer run inna somethin', yer holler." Hagrid looked them over again and nodded, satisfied. "Off yer go, then."

"That wasn't so bad, really."

"Yeah. Except you two didn't have Ron with you, and so your ears aren't bleeding. Tch."

"Yours aren't either, Harry."

"_Figarutively_."

"_Figuratively_, you _idiot_."

Harry huffed. "Excuse _you_."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, we'll _never_ pair you up with Weasley for anything _ever_ _again_. Happy?"

"_Very_."

"Drama Queen."

"_Do_ shut up."

"Go to sleep already, or Zoe'll yell again."

"You say that like we care."

"Besides, _beauty_ _sleep_? _Please_."

"You'll jinx it, go to sleep."

A voice screamed from the girls' dorm. "Will you three shut _up,_ already?! I had _bags! Bags_ under my eyes today!"

Harry grinned.

"Jinxed it."

* * *

"I can't believe Professor Quirrell was the bad guy."

"Yeah."

"I knew it couldn't be Professor Snape, 'cause Professor Snape's just – I dunno, Professor _Snape_."

"Yeah."

Hermione propped her elbows on her knees, resting her face in her hands and grinning at Harry.

"You're really happy it wasn't him, huh?"

"Yeah."

Harry blinked. He narrowed his eyes at her and Draco. "You guys suck."

Draco smirked. "We're not the ones swooning at our House Heads'."

"You have _got_ to be _kidding_ me."

Hermione and Draco snickered. Hermione stretched a bit back on her seat, smiling.

"It was a pretty good year, wasn't it? Winning the Quidditch cup for our house for the first time in years, winning the house cup, too, fighting a troll-" She blinked. "Gee, I hope Dad doesn't freak out or anything. I actually liked this school."

Draco stared out of the train's window. "He better not. Doesn't he know how hard it is to get bushy animals?"

Hermione punched him on the arm, scowling. "Jerk."

Harry gazed out the window. "That aside, I'm really looking forward to '_Muggle'_ devices – _and_ Bella's food."

They gazes misted slightly.

"Bella's food…"

* * *

**...I don't really know how I feel about this chapter. Didn't turn out all that good, I guess. Oh well.**

**And I'm skipping their second year, for now. I might write it separately, or make it into a part of a collection, but for now, it's not here. Sorry.**


	9. Chapter 9

**(Edited)**

**Yosh.**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 2.**

**Link to moe Tumblr: .com **

**Hope y'all like this chapter.**

* * *

_**Bad writing is better than no writing – Dina Santorelli**_

* * *

Hermione and Luna stared at the tiny room in surprise.

"What _is_ this?"

It was a small, dusty room with grey, dirty walls, and didn't have anything of interest, really. Hermione reached for the wall, her face suspicious.

She blanched when her hand went right through it. She and Luna cautiously walked through the wall where her hand had passed.

"Illusion charm," Luna muttered.

"Okay, _now_ what is this?"

Beyond the walls, the place looked like a den. The place was huge, with pillars here and there, separating the room into small sections. They couldn't see the whole room, as there were curtains hanging from the ceiling at some places for seperatations.

One section seemes bigger than the others - speakers were piled on top of each other next to one wall, making it seem like the wall was made of speakers. The floor in front of the speakers was covered with mats. Hermione's eyes lit up.

"That place is _definitely_ for dancing."

Luna blinked. "Dancing?"

Hermione hummed, a grin on her face. "Means that a Muggleborn or Half-blood did this place - I don't think any Purebloods know how to use Muggle devices, much less _dance._" She glanced sheepishly at Luna. "No offense, though."

She walked to another section. Her eyes glittered. "Unbelievable. Laptops. At Hogwarts. Luna, pinch me."

Luna did so. Hermione winced.

"Not a dream, then."

There were curtains hanging in a straight line from the middle of the ceiling - or what _seemed_ like the middle of the room - as if dividing the place in half. Hermione and Luna carefully parted the curtains slightly. Hermione grinned again.

"This place is like a Muggleborn's dream palace - magic and electronics together. Beautiful."

Luna looked around curiously at the coaches and TVs littered around.

"The smell is familiar."

Hermione frowned at her. "I can't smell anything."

"It smells like Weasleys."

"...Hah?"

"The -the air. It's the air again."

"...You know, I think you have air-bending. Like, I've never seen you flip a page or something. It just turns by itself, as if you're ordering the wind to do it. Or something."

Luna gazed at Hermione. "Really? I never noticed. I've just never flipped a page." She blinked. "That's surprisingly unsettling."

Hermione spied a book on a nearby table. Before she told Luna what she wanted her to do it, she flipped over the cover.

"Says William Weasley. Didn't George say that's his oldest brother?"

"Yeah. Though I think it was Bill."

Hermione sighed when she saw Luna take interest in a painting that hung on a wall. She walked up to her and firmly dragged her away from a painting she was staring at. "Luna, try to lift this book."

Luna picked it up with her hands and stared at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, I mean with wind - try to imagine lifting it."

The book floated up for exactly a second and fell back down. Hermione looked pleased and impressed.

"Well at least I won't have any more headaches about you being an air-bender now. Congratulations."

"...You just congratulated me on something shameful."

"I'm freakin' awesome." Hermione glanced at Luna who looked flustered. "It's not bad. No one besides me and the boys - and I guess the twins - will know. And your father, if you want."

Luna winced and shook her head. Hermione narrowed her eyes at her. "...Okay."

_"What is this place?"_

Hermione blinked. "Was that Harry's voice?" She asked Luna.

"I think so."

_"It's probably just some empty broom closet, come on."_ Came Draco's annoyed voice.

Hermione stood in front of where her hand had gone through the grey walls, just on the other side.

"Guys, it's an illusion charm - just walk through the walls."

_"...Was that Hermione?"_

"Yeah, it's me. Dork. Walk through the walls, it'll lead you to us."

_"...How do I know this isn't a trick?"_

"Who else ya gonna believe?"

_"...Yeah it's Hermione. After you, loser."_

_"Jerk."_

They could practically _hear_ Draco roll his eyes. _"Oh, I have been_ burnt."

_"...That was_ so_ funny."_

_"Move it."_

_"My perfect ass?"_

_"...That's_ it."

Draco walked through the wall, looking pissed. Hermione fell over laughing.

"I am now _totally_ convinced you guys like each other," She said, gasping for breath. Luna giggled. Draco threw her a dirty look.

"If you even think about it, I'll force you to make Amortentia and make you feed it to Bulstrode."

Luna tilted her head. "You wouldn't do that, you like Her-"

Draco slapped a hand on her mouth, a look of sheer terror on his face. "I like _no_ one! You hear me, Lovegood?! _No_ one!"

Luna pushed away Draco's hand. "Your feelings would beg to differ."

_"Screw_ my _feelings!_ I don't care!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco. "Relax, drama queen. We won't tell anyone you have feelings for - er - Millicent." She winced.

Harry fell through the grey wall. They stared at him.

"You jumped?" Draco said in disbelief. "Man, you're a bigger doofus than I thought."

"Shut. Up. I didn't know, okay? And if you keep at it, I'll tell the whole school you like Bulstrode."

"I _don't!"_ Draco all but shrieked. "It's a huge misunderstanding! I wouldn't marry Bulstrode if she was the last girl on Earth!"

"...Okay, dude, chill."

"Don't you start, too. I had to bear with Scarhead's whining the whole way."

_"Excuse_ me? More like _I_ had to bear with _your_ whining! I swear, if you got all that from your father, then I feel so _sorry_ for Aunt Cissy!"

"I will _kill_ you, with my _bare hands-"_

"_Speakers_!?" Harry squeaked.

"Apparently so." Hermione said, grinning. "Though I didn't try them. They might set off alarms or something. Didn't wanna risk it."

Harry literally skipped towards the speaker-covered wall and walked towards a panel a bit off from the speakers. He pressed a few buttons with Hermione peering over his shoulder, telling him what not to press.

_**MY ANACONDA DON'T**_

They all stared at the speakers in horror.

_**MY ANACONDA DON'T**_

Except Luna, who had never heard such music before.

_**My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun**_

They finally seemed to come over their shock. Hermione covered Luna's ears with her hands - who looked put out at having people covering her sensory organs - and looked at Harry in disbelief.

"Well?! Turn it off before it starts up again!"

Harry almost destroyed a few buttons trying to switch everything off. Hermione removed her hands from Luna's ears, careful not to tangle her fingers in her wavy hair. She looked at them curiously.

"What did that person mean by not wanting them unless they have buns...?"

Draco turned around in a violent coughing fit. Harry followed his example after trying to control his laughter. Hermione glared at them. She turned back to Luna, who looked up at her with clear, curious eyes. Hermione took a deep breath.

"Luna, _please _forget that. Okay? It's very offensive, and you do now want to go around saying that to people. Really."

Luna blinked. "Okay."

"Okay, that's cleared up, so now-"

"GOT YOU, YOU THIEVING _SCOUNDRELS!"_

_"KNEEL!"_

"AND THEN OBEY _ALL_ OUR COMMANDS!"

"FOR ENTERING OUR DOMAIN WITHOUT PER-" The voice – voices – abruptly cut off.

"Wait, no, Merlin's beard, Dan, it's just them."

Draco glared at the three masked guys. "Yeah, _just_ us."

One of the three Indian-masked guys took off their mask, showing the face of George Weasley. He grinned down at the four. "Sorry, but you guys aren't even of age."

Hermione squirmed, trying to find her way out of the net that had fallen on them. "I don't even wanna know what _age_ has to do with _this."_

Fred and George helped them remove the net. Harry stared curiously at the third masked person. He seemed to blink.

"Oh, uh - Lee Jordan."

He removed his mask and grinned down at them. Luna smiled back.

"Well," Fred started, "It seems you've found our castle. We now must have you sign papers, lest you tell anyone about this room."

Hermione looked at them warily. "What happens if we tell?"

"You suffer a fate worse than death." George said brightly.

"...Okay. Can I ask some questions before we sign?"

The twins returned her wary look. "...Fire away."

Hermione smiled brightly. "Why do we need to sign papers?"

"...For secrecy."

"Obviously."

"Where are the papers?"

"...We don't have any. _Yet._ But that doesn't mean you go around telling everybody about this room."

Hermione made herself comfortable on a sofa and tugged Luna's sleeve to make her sit down. She gave her an amused look and plopped herself down. Draco and Harry sat across from them.

Lee sent the twins a questioning look. They ignored him and glared at the quad, who sent back innocent looks.

"Also," Harry began, "Care to tell us why you have… er, _specific_ _songs_ installed in that thing?" He pointed at the buttons panel.

The twins slowly grinned. Fred sat down next to Lee in front of a laptop, while George walked towards a cabinet - that looked like a fridge on the inside - took out a drink and sat down on an arm chair. He lifted a leg so he was sitting ankle-on-knee style. Then he proceeded to stare down at them while sipping from his glass.

Draco smirked when Hermione and Harry stifled snorts.

"If you're trying to act cool," Draco said with a not-so-straight face, "It's _really_ not working."

George rolled his eyes when Fred and Lee laughed.

"Okay, I'll tell you the history of this room. You were gonna ask, anyway." He pointed at Hermione. She grinned back sheepishly.

"Alright, so, truth be told, I have no idea how old this place is. All I know, is that Dad had this place when he was at Hogwarts. And I think that before him, our grandparents did. Basically, it's a place that some Muggleborn made way back and handed it down to another Muggleborn he or she trusted who handed it down to a person _he_ trusted, and so on. With me so far?"

They nodded.

"Right. So, this place ended up in Dad's hands. And you've met him, you know how crazy he is about Muggle stuff. It was a dream come true for him. Said he'd considered failing his grades just to stay here. He handed it down to Bill, who handed it down to Charlie, who handed it to Percy, who didn't want it, and gave it to us. And here we are."

They looked around again. "So what exactly do you guys _do_ here?"

"Hang out, do homework, chill out, the like. We tried the dancing stuff, but since none of us know how to dance, we just listen to the music."

"...I know how to dance."

They all stared at Draco.

"Do we even want to know?" asked Harry, trying to keep his jaw off the floor. "I learned with Hermione, but I've never seen _you_ dance."

"I was with Bella a while before you guys came," Draco said. "She dances, as you know, and she taught me. She loved it, was a good teacher, and I learned fast." He looked thoughtful. "Though I haven't danced for a long time."

Hermione's face lit up. She turned to George. Lee and Fred stopped trying to eavesdrop and came to sit with them.

"If we don't tell anyone, will you let us come here again? I know some Muggleborns who know how to dance - they were the ones who crashed Madam Rosmerta's place - and if I talk to them, they could come here and teach you guys. How about it?"

_She looks far too happy for them to refuse_, thought Draco._ She must really love dancing._

"Care to share your thoughts, _Dray_?" Harry said in a sly voice.

"Don't call me that," Draco replied immediately, "And shut the hell up."

Harry gave him a shit-eating grin.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Luna has an announcement to make."

"...No I don't."

Hermione looked at her, surprised and cross. "You said they could know."

"But-"

"There is nothing shameful about it," Hermione fumed, "It's not like you _asked_ for it, now did you? No. But you have it anyway, so you're going to be proud of it."

"There is nothing to be proud about." Luna's voice was hard, yet so soft. Hermione's face went blank. She picked up her bag and went towards the grey walls from where they had entered.

"Fine, then. Bitch about it by yourself for the rest of your life."

And with that, she left.

They sat in silence for a solid two minutes. Then, Luna got up and left, too.

Harry and Draco looked at each other uneasily.

Lee opened his mouth, then promptly shut it. He opened his mouth again.

"If there's anything I've learned about these type of fights, is that they'll make up on their own. If you two," He moved a finger from Harry to Draco and back, "Try to help, it might just get worse."

He walked up and got himself a can of something from the fridge-cabinet. He seemed to notice the surprised looks he was receiving. He rolled his eyes.

"Chill, I have three older sisters."

"...Our poor boy."

* * *

**Hopefully this chapter is good. I just had to add the Weasley twins in here. Now they have an excuse for coming into chapters without permission XD**

**Peeeeaaaaace ooouuttttteeh.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Finally reached chapter 10! Woot!**

**(I'm surprised I got here, really.)**

**Okay, first off, you guys suck. Well some of you, anyway. Well not really, but**

**Forget it.**

**#~# **

**Disclaimer: See chappie 2.**

**Right, so this chapter has left me with no more doubt that I am a complete and absolute psycho, and that there is absolutely no more hope left for me, I am finally far too deep into whatever madness there is. Go figure.**

* * *

_**Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about; be willing to be split open – Natalie Goldberg**_

* * *

Hermione dazedly walked around, still covered in Harry's cloak.

_That was really him, wasn't it?_

She reached the lake behind Hogwarts and sat down.

_It's not necessary that he's Harry's father - maybe Harry just_ wants_ him to be his father. Besides, neither of the parents would have glasses, and it's highly unlikely that Harry would then._

_I'm so stumped, I can't even think straight._

"That's surprising. You don't have a single Wrackspurt around you."

Hermione startled, turning to the source of the voice. She did a double-take at the blond.

A bright yellow gown that was decorated with unicorns, and purple leggings. She had a dozen or so bracelets over her bare arms and a few rings on her fingers - half of her curly, dirty blond hair was up, the rest in pigtails. And she was barefoot.

"How did you know I was here if I don't have any Wrackspurts around me?" Hermione asked warily, taking off the cloak.

Luna tilted her head. "Your thoughts were loud."

"...Er - sorry if I disturbed you or something..."

"Not at all."

They stood there for a few seconds in silence, Hermione feeling slightly awkward.

"Shouldn't you be going to sleep?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Luna. "Look who's talking. A year younger, no less."

Luna faintly smiled at her. "Won't they be waiting for you?"

"...How do you know?"

"You smell like them."

Hermione deadpanned at her. "_What_?"

"The air," Luna said, twirling a finger around in front of herself, "it talks to me."

"Really?"

"Not talk, but goes inside me - tells me where its been, the like."

Hermione nodded, surprised at herself for not doubting Luna. She'd always been special in a way. She shoved her hands in her pockets. "You aren't cold?"

"Not really. Rather warm, actually."

She raised a finger to Luna's cheek and raised her eyebrows. "You really are warm," She said, shoving her hand back in her pocket. Luna looked at her startled.

"I- yes - I am. I think."

Hermione's lips quirked up. "I'll leave, then. Don't stay up too long - if I remember correctly, some second years were whining about potions."

Luna nodded, staring up at Hermione with glowing blue eyes. Hermione frowned slightly.

"Your eyes glow, too."

Luna sent her a questioning look. Hermione shook her head.

"Nothing - never mind." She walked to where she'd dropped Harry's cloak and picked it up. She turned back to Luna and poked her forehead with two fingers.

"Come back here tomorrow after school - I'll bring Harry and Draco." She tilted her head. "If you don't mind, that is."

Luna looked at her with another startled expression.

"I-" she started in a faint voice, "No, I- I don't mind. Not at all. Thank you."

Hermione threw the cloak around herself, so only her face was visible. "Whatever for?" She grinned and walked away.

Luna stood there for a few minutes with a look of awe on her face, a hand on her forehead where Hermione had poked her.

_No one's touched me so naturally._

_Not since Mother._

* * *

Hermione scurried back to the castle, wondering if she should've take Luna under the cloak too.

_Nah, she found a way to get out without being seen, she'll get in too. Hopefully._

She ran inside the empty common room - save Harry and Draco, who were waiting for her - panting, grabbed a baffled Harry's arm and threw the cloak on him. After a brief thought, she pulled Draco in, too. Grabbing both of their arms, she ran out of the common room again.

"Hermione?"

"There's a mirror."

"A mirror." Harry repeated flatly.

"It shows peoples desires," Hermione said, as she led them around a corner. "I thought of what you wanted, Harry," she said, glancing at Harry crossly, "And I'm _stumped."_

Harry looked at her, confused. "What did I want?"

"Your parents. You've seen pictures of them, right? Well, your _mother_ was there," she threw him another dirty look. "But in place of your father was a _completely_ different creature."

"...Creature."

"Creature." She confirmed.

Draco spoke cautiously. "You didn't drink coffee again, did you...?"

Hermione glared at him. _"No."_

"Just askin'."

"Well, don't. Prat."

Hermione finally stopped at a door and opened it. A few feet away was the mirror. She threw the cloak off and shoved Harry in front of the mirror. Her expression changed from annoyance to smug triumphant when Harry blanched.

"You're kidding me."

"I kid you not."

"...Snape _can't_ be my father. Makes no sense, whatsoever."

Draco choked on his own spit. _"Snape?"_

"The one and only." Hermione said in a dry voice.

Draco stood next to Harry and looked stared at the mirror in fascinated horror.

"Wow."

"It's not _'wow'_. In fact, I think he isn't Harry's dad - I think Harry just _wants_ him to be."

Harry stared at her in disbelief. "No I _don't._ I respect him and all, but not to the point of _idolism,_ or something."

Hermione pressed her lips in a thin line. Draco had the strangest urge to pull her face back.

"I don't know, Harry. You might just, you know?"

"No, I don't know." Harry almost snapped. "This mirror could be faulty - have you considered that?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Of course I have. I tried a fair number of people to make sure. Why do you think I'm so surprised?"

Surprised seemed to be an understatement of how they felt at the moment.

Hermione sighed, sitting down in front of the mirror, so Draco and Harry were standing behind her. "There's a way we can check."

The mirror's image morphed again.

"How?"

They stared at the image the mirror was showing.

"Blood check."

The mirror showed a woman with curly hair sitting on the ground, two men standing behind her – one blond, the other having a mixture black and red hair, a faint zig-zig on his forehead.

"And how exactly are we going to get Professor Snape's blood?"

Behind the men were a few more people; a blond woman with wavy hair and bright blue eyes, two red-heads that wore identical grins, a handsome man with not-so-greasy hair, a man with a bit too many tattoos and a cheeky grin, a sandy haired man next to him, and more.

"That's the problem."

They sat there till dawn.

* * *

Hermione stretched onto the grass, sighing. She looked sideways at Luna, who was leaning against a tree, making a bracelet. Hermione turned onto her stomach, legs in the air and her jaw resting on her palms. She stared at Luna's fingers, her brain automatically memorizing her fast and nimble movements.

"Why aren't you using magic?"

"It would have less meaning," Luna replied without looking up.

"Maybe, but it's the thought that counts, right? Doesn't matter how you make it."

Luna glanced up from her bracelet-making. "You know why I'm doing it how I am - so why are you asking?"

Hermione softly grinned. "You're smart Luna, I'll give you that."

Luna's cheeks flushed slightly. "I was sorted into Ravenclaw for a reason, you know," she said softly. She turned back to her bracelet. "Besides, you're smart too, judging by the lack of Wrackspurts around you."

"I'm flattered."

"I'm glad."

"Well _I_ sure as heck ain't." Someone drawled from behind Hermione.

Hermione looked up at Draco in surprise. "I didn't hear you coming up." She said, glancing sat Harry, who sat down near Luna.

Draco scowled down at her and dumped his bag on her. "Precisely."

Hermione rolled her eyes and tugged at his pant legs to make him sit down. He obliged, still scowling.

"I can't believe you're jealous of a _girl._ A year younger, too."

Draco's face turned darker. "I am _not_ jealous. I'm fed up. You're gone more now and Harry ends up getting on my nerves."

Hermione sighed. "Doesn't he always? Besides, it was _you_ guys who pushed me into getting a _girlfriend._ Bear with it."

"I did _not!"_ Draco hissed at her. "It was _Potter -_ you know _very_ well I was _against_ it!"

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling. Draco sighed crossly at her. "You're _hopeless."_

Hermione grinned. "Hey, _I'm_ not the one who's jealous that his friend had gotten another friend. Moron."

"Not. Jealous."

"I'm not even going to try."

"Good."

Harry grinned at them, Luna smiling too.

Luna didn't understand why they talked to her. She'd come up with a whole list of why they wouldn't want to talk to her ever since the first time she'd talked to Hermione, and yet they kept coming back.

Firstly, she was in a different house. The houses usually kept to themselves, especially Slytherins. So why three Slytherins had befriended her was a shock to her. She loved their company - of course she would. Who wouldn't after years of no friends?

Secondly, she was a year younger than them. Not completely, being no more than four or five months younger than each of the three, but she was a second year. Not a third. No same classes, no similar essays, not anything similar between studies.

Thirdly, she'd seen how close how all three of them were. She couldn't wrap her brain around why they'd want another friend.

Or hey, maybe she was an acquaintance.

After a few days of skirting around Hermione with questions - to her surprise, Hermione had read her like a book, and told her they enjoyed her company; simple as that - she'd given up. Now they all just enjoyed each other's company.

She'd come to find out things about them, as they'd learned things about her as well.

Luna found Draco actually liked her, no matter how aloof he was about it. He just got a bit annoyed when Hermione would ignore him. Just with that simple fact, she'd known he liked her. She found he liked watching Hermione a lot too, and did it as often as possible. She found she shared a mutual love with Draco for chess - surprisingly. To Luna, he was somewhat of a big brother.

Luna found Hermione had feelings for Draco too, but wasn't sure if Hermione knew about them, never mind Draco's. She found she liked the way Hermione was different from other girls at Hogwarts - for starters, not wearing any make-up. At all. She was hardly like most of the girls. To Luna, she was the protective big sister she'd never had.

Luna found that Harry had a not-very-nice family, as they didn't talk about them much. She found out he had very nice green eyes, she found she liked his messy black hair, how his clothes were never really straight, his smile, his grin and even that small frown he had when he was thinking really hard. She found she hated whenever he was nervous, since he always stood there flinching, as if someone was going to strike him. She found she adored whenever he was embarrassed, since his cheeks would flush and he'd avoid anyone's eyes.

Luna found out she liked the Boy-Who-Lived. To her fascinated horror. So she did what only she - most likely, anyway - would do. She took the feelings and shoved them down under lock and key.

Right now, she sat braiding together another bracelet, having finished and pocketed the previous one. She suddenly found a sandwich stuffed under her nose. She looked up at Harry.

"...Mine?"

"Yeah. Bella owled them. Her sandwiches are the best."

Luna took it from him with a hesitant and confused smile, deciding then and there that Harry was going to offer absolute no help to her in getting over the butterflies that haunted her insides.

"Thank…you."

"Uh huh." Was the intelligent reply from Harry's full mouth. Draco snorted, eating his sandwich. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Manners, Harry."

"Don't know what language tho art speak, lad."

Hermione muttered a spell. Harry turned green.

"Hermione, I _hate_ mustard!"

"Ya don't say."

"How _could_ you?" Harry wailed. "That was _my_ sandwich, too!"

"That was the point, idiot."

"Gimme yours!"

_"No."_

_"__Draco_?"

"As if."

Harry turned to Luna. "Lu?" he asked, his glowing green eyes, pleading.

Luna somehow managed to control most of the blood from rushing to her cheeks. "Sure," she said in a strangled voice. Harry beamed.

"Thanks!"

Hermione got up and sat next to her with a sly look. Luna swallowed, staring at Harry's sandwich.

"You can have mine," Hermione offered, trying to keep her voice neutral.

"I-" Luna swallowed again. "No, it's fine." She cautiously bit into Harry's sandwich.

Hermione turned her face the other way to hide her massive grin.

* * *

**And there ya have it. :')**

**Right, so I've decided on Larry, as you can guess from this chap. And yes, it was Snape. The joy. Or horror. Whichever. :P**

**It's almost 2:30 AM here, and I'm glad I'm still alive. Hope this chapter's satisfying.**

**I've been listening to Kesha non-stop. I can't stahp.**

**Suggestions on improvement and the like are honored (I'm not kidding, I really honor you all.)**

**Byeh.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Yosh.**

**I'm like trying to nurse myself back to normal - however normal people consider a fangirl, that is - cuz I found out **_**some**_**one just literally hopped from the Johnlock ship to the bloody Sheriarty ship. **

**Like, ew.**

**It was horrifying. I had to read so many fanfics just to make sure I was still on Johnlock. *Shudder***

**Disclaimer: See chapter two.**

**Update on psychoness due to this story: Still a psycho. Too bad.**

* * *

_**The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon – Robert Cormier**_

* * *

"...You're really sure he's your godfather?"

Harry stared blankly inside his cup, his body covered by his invisibility cloak. "And by all rights, he still is."

Hermione swallowed and leaned back. Draco looked at her uneasily.

"There's no chance that you misheard this-"

_"No."_

Harry's eyes were glowing. Too brightly - they could see them glowing slightly from underneath the cloak. They were surprised - no, _shocked_ \- that nothing had exploded yet.

Draco pressed his lips in a line. "What if they've made a mistake...?" He swallowed when he practically _felt_ Harry give him a blank stare. "I mean, according to Father, the ministry makes mistakes all the time, so..."

He swallowed again.

Hermione's logical side spoke up. "I don't think so. It could always be a possibility, but it's been twelve years. He must've had a trial, right?"

"Yeah," Draco said, taking a sip of his butterbeer. "Yeah, I guess so. They all do."

Hermione was suddenly struck by a thought. "Why don't we ask Professor Lupin? He might have known him in their school years."

Harry stood up on the bench, stepped over Hermione's legs and hopped off, taking his butterbeer with him. "Okay then."

They got up and followed him out.

* * *

Remus had gone into his study after a few sandwiches to check his students' essays. He didn't expect to enter the classroom, only to find three students sitting there. He at once became wary as he took in Harry's blank face.

Refraining from sighing loudly, he took a seat at his desk and began tidying up his papers. He glanced up a few times, waiting for one of the students to speak. When that didn't happen, he himself spoke up.

"What can I help you with?" Remus eyed Hermione and Draco. "Shouldn't you two be in Hogsmeade?" He asked, addressing Hermione and Draco.

They stared back at him uneasily. He became even more wary.

"Well, yeah, but- we- er-" Hermione swallowed. "We came to take an extra class...? If you're free, that is."

They both stared at each other. Remus finally let out a sigh.

"Yes, I suppose I am. What would you like to know?" He asked, standing up from his chair and walking to lean towards the front of his table, his hands in his pockets.

Hermione stared at Draco, who stared back at her. She bit her lip and turned back to Remus.

"IsSiriusBlackHarry'sgodfather?"

Remus tensed up so fast, Draco thought he might explode.

"Excuse me?" Remus asked tersely.

Hermione slouched in her chair.

Draco repeated it for her. "Is Sirius Black - the one who escaped from Azkaban - Harry's godfather?"

Remus only tensed up further, if that was possible. He turned to them with a blank look equivalent to Harry's.

"Who told you this?"

Harry looked at Remus, finally speaking up. "It's true?" He asked, his eyes narrowed.

Remus's mouth thinned until they could barely see his lips. _"Who?"_

Draco opened his mouth, but Harry beat him to it. "I heard Professor McGonacall talking to Madam Rosmerta and a few other people in Hogsmeade." He glared at Remus. "Problem?"

Lupin saw Hermione discreetly facepalm.

"Yes," He snapped. "There _is,_ in fact, a _problem._ You went into Hogsmeade without supervision _or_ your guardians' signatures, knowing full well your life is in danger - that should legit get you expelled." He gave the three a frosty look. "And for your own safety, I don't think I'll even _try_ stop Dumbledore."

_I'm letting a thirteen year old get on my nerves. The son of my dead friend, no less. I'll bet my fangs are showing, too._

And indeed, they probably were, as Hermione was staring at him. Or his teeth. Whichever.

Remus ran a hair through his hair, feeling it standing up. He took a random chair from a desk in front of him and sat down on it backwards so he was facing them. He propped his arms on top of the backrest.

"Ask your questions, then."

Hermione scooted closer. "Is Sirius Black Harry's godfather?"

"Yes."

"Is he coming to kill Harry?"

"I'm not sure. I hope not."

"...Okay. Did you two know each other at school?"

"Yeah. Same year, same house - we were friends, Miss Granger."

Their heads shot up as they stared at them. Remus pointedly stared out the window. "Next?"

"What? Oh. Right, uh - wow. You two were really friends?"

"Along with Harry's father and Peter Pettigrew."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh, that's -" She turned to Harry. "I mean, can I?"

"...Sure."

She turned back to Remus. "Is James Potter really Harry's father?"

_"...What?_ Of course he is! Lily wouldn't cheat on James - what even gave you the idea?"

"Never mind, then," Hermione said, sighing. Remus gave her a stern glare when she shrugged.

"If you three don't tell me," He started with his face neutral. "I won't talk, either."

_I. Am. Bribing. Three. Thirteen. Year. Olds._

Draco said his thoughts out loud. "You're bribing us, Professor."

"It isn't the first time."

They looked at him, impressed. He raised an eyebrow at them. "Well?"

The three looked at each other, mentally coming to an agreement.

"You can't tell anyone."

"Sure."

"We're serious."

"...No you're not."

"...We - oh." Draco looked at him, bemused. "Not funny."

"It is, actually. He was a great joker." Remus leaned back slightly. "That one was one of his favorites."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

A few seconds passed. Remus cleared his throat. "So, Harry's father...?"

Reluctantly, they told Remus about the Mirror of Erised. He didn't say a word until they finished. And even when they did, he still kept quiet.

"Professor Lupin?"

Remus stood up abruptly, walking towards the stairs leading to his room.

"I'll get his blood for you three."

"Professor-"

"Come back here tomorrow after classes."

"But-"

"Good day to you three."

"_Hey_-"

The door slammed shut. They stared at it speechlessly.

"Whats _his_ problem?"

Harry stood up, suddenly feeling as if he'd been hit by a truck.

"I'm going to bed," He sullenly announced.

Draco stood up and stretched. "Yeah, sure."

"I'll do something about muggle devices, then. You want a Dreamless Potion, Harry?"

"...Nah."

"I'll be with Luna, then, if you guys need us. Near the lake."

"Yeah."

They quietly walked out the door, going their separate ways.

* * *

Harry skidded around a corner, panting.

_"Guys!"_

Hermione and Draco didn't hear him.

"Guys, slow down!"

Luna stopped and looked behind her, spotting Harry. She tugged on Hermione's sleeve.

_"Luna! _Thank _God!"_

He screeched to a halt in front of them. Hermione and Draco sent him sheepish looks. He scowled back.

"I can't _believe_ you guys didn't hear me! The _nerve!"_

"Gee, Harry, anyone would think-"

"Yeah, yeah, that it's the end of the world or something, I know - but our next class is Divination, and we really don't need that right now, could we _please_ go to the lake place, something happened and it was so freaking cool, and you really need to see it!"

"Sure, Harry, sure. Luna, what's your next class?"

"I'm free."

Hermione looped her arm through Luna's. "That's good."

Harry punched Draco on his arm and took off. "Race you!"

Draco snatched Luna and Hermione's bags and sprinted after Harry. He threw Hermione's at him, promptly causing Harry to lose his footing and fall down.

"You _cheat!"_

"You're just a sore loser!" Draco called back. "Besides, who was it that took off first, huh?"

"Tosser!"

Hermione and Luna ran after them, grinning.

_"Boys."_

They all flopped onto their backs when they reached the lake. Harry suddenly stood up again.

"No, no, no, you guys have to get up. Come on, get up!"

Luna was the only one who sat up.

Hermione moaned and turned away from Harry. "In a while."

"It'll be worth it!"

Draco and Hermione sat up, sighing. "What?"

"Guys, I did Earth-Bending!"

Utter silence.

Hermione coughed. "Okay, so before we start laughing," Draco poorly concealed his snorts in the crook of his elbow, "Please repeat that."

"Believe me! I thought I was going crazy, but I tried it again and again, and dirt just kept flying everywhere!"

Luna scrutinized him. "Could you do it again?"

Harry blinked. "I- yeah, I think- I _should_ be able to-"

He plopped down on the grass with a pout.

"You guys think this is a joke."

"...Give us some proof - evidence - anything, Harry. We'll believe you."

Harry puffed out his cheeks, clearly agitated. He took a deep breath, crossed his legs and closed his eyes.

Luna disappeared.

Hermione and Draco scrambled towards the huge hole that had appeared where Luna had been sitting. Harry opened his eyes and peered inside the hole in horror.

Luna was sitting at the bottom of the hole, completely unharmed, looking around in admiration. "Fascinating."

The three collectively let out a breath.

It was a relatively deep hole, almost about fifty feet. They carefully hovered each other down.

"It's rock. Completely rock. You sure you did this, Harry?"

Harry was admiring his work. "Oh, definitely."

"What were you thinking about?" Hermione asked in wonder, running her hands over the dirt walls. Harry turned beet red.

"Nothing."

They turned to him at the reluctance voice.

"Harry...?"

He covered his face, turning his back to them in mortification. "Nothing, I swear - please don't ask."

Even darkness couldn't cover his red ears.

"...Sure."

"Thanks. A lot."

"Yeah, no problem."

When he turned back to them, the way Hermione and Draco glanced at Luna and back at him - not to mention, their _grinning_ \- insured that they'd do _anything_ but drop it.

* * *

**Thanks to everyone who's favorited, followed and/or read this.**

**Stay with me guys. **

**Peace out.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Right, so I got pretty positive feedback for the previous chap (thank god), and some things made me dizzy. Not exactly in a bad way, but yeah. Not good while sick.**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 2.**

**Yippie-ka-fucking-yay, man.**

* * *

_**Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia – E. L. Doctorow **_

* * *

**Which may mean we're all doomed, but we'll just have to see.**

* * *

"Are you freaking _serious?!"_

"And don't even give us that crap you did last time!"

"You can't make Professor Snape test the blood, does he even _know?!"_

Remus sighed again. "Would you rather I told him?"

"What? No! But couldn't you find anyone else to test the blood?"

"I fail to see the _problem, _Mr._ Potter._"

They whirled around to see Severus staring at them. Hermione thought she saw his eye twitch, too.

_It's actually probably Snape, really, but you'd die probably of horror. _Harry's brain snapped back. He just barely stopped himself from saying it to his maybe-father's face. Even though he found it completely unfair that his probably-real-father was completely chilling. But then again, he didn't know.

Harry found himself wishing he didn't know, either.

"There's no problem, Professor." Draco assured. "Harry's just a bit worried-"

"If you knew who we were testing, then you wouldn't be so up to it!" Harry said crossly.

"I do believe it was your blood I was testing on, Potter."

Harry internally snarked. _What're ya gonna do when it really does end up 'Snape'?_

"Yeah, and who else's?" He asked instead.

"Some unfortunate bloke who is your father. Someone who's not _James."_

Severus looked utterly delighted about the whole matter.

"Yeah, well, do you know who the man is? The one we're testing?"

"Unfortunately, Remus did not tell me that." Severus's eyes swept over at said man disdainfully.

"It's a man you like," Harry continued miserably. "And if he really ends up being the father, you like him so much, you'll probably kill me."

"...What."

Snape actually made it sound like a sentence, instead of a question.

Hermione was staring at Harry with a bemused look. "I have no idea, Professor."

Remus sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. "Do you three want the blood results or not?"

"We do."

"Come on, then."

"Just not-"

"Oh, shut up, Harry. You know we can't ask anyone else. They're too nosy."

"Have you _seen_ the size of _his_ nose?"

Severus bristled. Draco slapped the back of Harry's head.

Upon reaching his classroom, Severus walked up to his desk and took out three vials and placed them on his desk. The rest quietly took chairs and brought them up to his desk. The potions' genius refused to acknowledge them.

"...Hey, Professor, what's the third vial?"

"Verum Sanguinis," Came the reply after a few seconds. "It gives the truth about blood - heritage, status, the like. You must keep in mind what you want to know and direct it at the potion and blood with your wand - or in some cases, with your mind, if you can do it well enough."

Severus took the two vials of blood and took approximately five drops from each into a petri dish-like bowl. He then took the third vial, and using a dropper, let one drop fall onto the mixture of the two blood types in the bowl. Then he pointed his wand at the mixture, which let out a stream of blue light. The mixture turned bright green.

They all stared at the bowl in silence.

"I wouldn't suppose that means negative, now..." Hermione trailed off in a weak voice.

"It is very much positive." Severus confirmed.

Harry looked sick. Draco was patting his back sympathetically, and Remus looked like he just didn't know what to do.

Severus looked over them. "Who is it?"

Harry looked at him with lost eyes. Snape blinked.

Harry was changing - his bodily appearance seemed the same, it was just his eyes and hair. His green eyes now had pieces of brown littered about, and his hair was in different shades varying from dark red to black. Draco and Hermione did a double take.

"Wow."

"Your hair's pink, man."

"It's red," Hermione assured him. "Guess from your mother."

"And the black from-" Draco blinked and looked at Snape. "Er - your father."

Remus tilted his head slightly. He stood up and pushed Harry so he was standing next to Snape. Severus looked bewildered. Remus tilted his head again.

"They actually do look a bit similar, don't they?"

Draco and Hermione hummed in agreement. "If you take away the nose, then you could actually consider him the father." Hermione mused.

Severus paled drastically. "...What...?"

"Or we could just keep pulling Harry's nose and then punch it at an angle that would make it look similar."

Hermione frowned. "I wouldn't go with that - he might lose fangirls. We have to see how they react to red hair, anyway."

"And his eyes."

Harry made a face. "Why are my fangirls so important?"

"How do you think we make money?"

Severus fainted.

* * *

"Do not _touch_ me!" Severus snarled.

Hermione obediently retracted her hand. Severus glared at her and turned so his back was facing them. He heard Draco snort.

"Real mature, Prof."

"Where's the brat?"

"Hey, he's your kid - you have to call him Harry now."

"Come on, say it with us - Ha-rry. A disgustingly common name. It's ridiculously easy to pronounce."

"I'll call him what I like," Snape snapped. "And don't tell me he's my son. Now where is he?"

Hermione snickered. "He's going to have a field day if he knows you asked about him. He's up in his room."

"Sulking." Draco added.

The curtain was pulled back and Remus's face made an appearance. "Awake yet?"

"Apparently so." Came Severus's muffled voice from underneath the blankets. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"So that's where Harry gets his love of blankets. You're actually a bigger softie than I thought, Professor."

"Shut up, Miss Granger."

"Sure."

Draco poked Snape's lumpy form under the blanket. "You're gonna have to talk to him sooner or later, Professor."

"Better later, then."

"Do it for Lily."

Hermione and Draco whipped their heads to look at Remus with wide eyes. Severus slowly pulled down the blanket to join them.

"You're horrible."

"You love me."

"Merlin forbid."

* * *

Luna sighed.

"Harry, I'm sure he didn't faint because he didn't want you as his son or anything-"

"He did. That's exactly why he fainted." Came the muffled reply from under the blankets. "He looked so revolted and disgusted-"

"You know that's not true-"

"It _is."_

"Harry, don't be ridiculous."

"So now I'm ridiculous."

_"No,_ Harry, _no._ Will you try to understand what I'm saying?"

"I don't want to."

"I bet he feels terrible, you know."

"Obvs he would, seeing as he hates me and all and now has to deal with me being his son."

"Merlin's Nargles, Harry-"

"I don't want to hear it."

"...Fine."

"Thanks."

A few minutes passed. Luna stood up. Harry's new reddish black head peeked out of the covers. "Where are you going?"

"To someone who actually wants to be with me."

"I want you to be here."

He dived back under the covers when Luna walked back.

"Okay. Can I talk to you about Professor Snape being your father, then?"

Harry let out a groan. "Fine. But only 'cause your my friend."

"Mhm. So, about Snape-"

"I changed my mind."

"Too late. Now about Professor Snape, he'll come around. He can't avoid you forever, and it's better you two settle this sooner than later."

"He'll choose later."

"And you?"

"...I choose later, too."

Luna let her forehead hit the bedpost. The door swung open at that moment, permitting Vincent and Gregory. They blinked at her. Then they looked at the lump covered by blankets. They dragged their eyes back to her.

"We'll come at another time." Gregory said politely.

"Thank you," Luna said back, bowing her head at them a little.

They left.

"They have very good manners." She commented.

Harry snorted. "That's just 'cause they thought we were-"

"…We were?"

"Nothing."

After a few minutes, she'd finally gotten rid of all - well, most - of Harry's negative thoughts. The door opened again. This time it was Blaise. He glanced at Luna, to Harry, and back at Luna.

"I'll come back later."

"Thanks."

He left. Luna turned to Harry.

"Are all Slytherins this nice?"

Harry snorted. "Hardly. They've just misunderstood what we're doing."

"What do they think we're doing?"

Harry threw off his covers and looked at Luna dead in the eye. She stared back, perplexed. He sighed and covered his head again.

"You don't wanna know."

* * *

_Dear Harry,_

_I'm really sorry for this - I shouldn't have kept it a secret. But at the time I found out you weren't James' son, our relationship was hanging on threads, and I had no idea where Severus was, or what he was doing._ _So the only thing I could do was put a long-term disillusionment charm on you and pray no one found out._

"...That's it?"

"...Seems like she couldn't finish the letter..."

"Oh well."

"Chill, Harry, maybe she didn't know how. I don't know, but this type of thing seems kinda hard to put in words."

"The truth has been spoken."

"And the mighty have fallen."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Shut up, you guys."

Draco mimicked her. "'Shut up, you guys.'"

"My voice is _not_ squeaky."

"Ah. Sorry."

"Mhm."

Hermione looked at Severus and Harry. "So now what are you guys gonna do? Get over it and let Harry call you Dad, or just forget everything?"

"The latter."

Harry's face fell. The rest of the people in the room stared at Severus. "What the hell?"

"The Wizarding World won't be happy if I'm the father - far from it."

"Okay, so we won't tell them. Now can I call you 'Dad'?"

Hermione grinned. "Can we call you Uncle Sev?"

Severus blanched. Remus patted his back.

"We're going to have to tell the whole world sooner or later-"

"Later, then."

"But just how are we going to break it to them?"

"...That's a good question."

"With no answer."

"Malfoy, _stop_ stating the obvious."

"Just saying."

"How about we just start with Hogwarts?" said Hermione. "Better not break it to the whole world at once."

"...Make sure Rita Skeeter is the last to know, then."

They snorted. "Pleasure."

* * *

_**SEVERUS SNAPE, FATHER OF HARRY POTTER?**_

_**By Rita Skeeter**_

_**Apparently, former Death Eater Severus Snape has been found to be Harry Potter's father!**_

_**See more on page 17.**_

"This-"

_"How-"_

"What-"

_"Why-"_

"Bloody-"

_"Fuck-"_

Hermione looked up with wide eyes. "Who said that?"

Harry slouched. "Sorry 'Mione."

"Wait till next year, please. Then I'll have no objections to your curses."

"...You curse all the time."

"I happen to _know_ what I'm saying."

"Jesus."

"You're not even Christian." Hermione muttered.

Harry pushed away his plate, trying his best to ignore the stares and loud whispers.

"I've lost my appetite."

"Don't let a worm ruin it, Harry."

"...Okay."

Hermione stared at the paper in her hands with disgust. "She's written two whole pages! How the hell did she get all that information? It's like she was in the room with us! We didn't even tell anyone other than Professor McGonacall and Dumbledore!"

"So it's _true?"_

Their heads flew up from the paper. Harry let out a breath of relief at seeing the twins. "It's only you guys."

"Gee, I feel so loved."

"Kidding, man. Thought you might be a fangirl or similar."

"That makes me feel even worse, Freddie."

"It does."

"Sorry." Hermone apologized, "But we didn't know if we should tell you or not. Before we know it, the world knows already."

Luna ran up to where they were sitting and began piling up her plate. She looked like she'd run a hundred miles. "Morning. Oh, hello Fred and George."

"You can tell them apart, Luna?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "We don't know how she does it - she just knows. She's also one of the only Ravenclaws that respects us out of their own will, so we like her."

Harry glowered at Fred.

"Hey," Hermione began hurriedly. "Harry can Earth-bend. I've searched and searched, but I can't find anything in the library that explains it."

The twins blinked. "Can you really? Bill's the only one we know who can Earth-bend, and he's always away in Egypt."

"...Wait a second. You mean lots of people have this thingy?"

"Oh, no, no, no. Earth-bending is the rarest of all four elements - Fire, Water, Air and Earth. Most strong wizards have it - I'm not surprised Harry boy here does. Thing is, we don't go around showing it off. Luna, if you please."

"Long before Hogwarts had been found, this small group wizards and witches learned how to bend elements. Unfortunately, they got too greedy-"

Harry snorted. "As usual."

"-And eventually they fought and ended up killing each other. After that, whoever could do bending was shunned. So people who have this _thingy_ keep it a secret."

George nodded. "Lovely story, really. Then the founders came along - they could bend, too. They tried to make people see that bending could be used for good - dunno how, but yeah."

"Helga could Earth-bend," Fred continued. "Rowena, Air-bend, Godric, Fire-bend, and Salazar could Water-bend. They almost succeeded, but then a bunch of purebloods ended up not agreeing and it all just went insane."

"So they were killed." Luna finished.

Hermione blinked. "I always did think the Wizarding World was made up of a bunch of drama queens."

"Well, now that you've told us something very _shameful,"_ Fred and George grinned, "we can bend, too. Mum hates our bending - always fussing that someone will find out. I'm Water."

"And I'm Air," said Fred.

"Bill's Earth, Charlie's Fire. Comes most handy with his dragons."

"Percy can or cannot bend - we've got no idea. Ronnie can't bend yet or can't at all, and dear Ginny's still too young."

"Oh."

"Anything else?"

"No?"

"We'll be on our way, then. Have fun."

"Yeah."

Hermione whistled. "That was some deep... crap. I was totally gonna say that." She added at all the dubious looks.

* * *

**FINALLY.**

**I'm terrified of this chapter, and I sincerely hope it was all fine.**

**Who am I kidding, it sucked.**

**Thanks go to AliceEnchanted, SassyDoe, meadow-music, crazycheshire. cat, HarryPMerlinLuv, Carolyn12 ( ).**


	13. Chapter 13

**(Edited)**

**Yosh.**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 2.**

**Link to moe Tumblr: .com **

**Hope y'all like this chapter.**

* * *

_**Bad writing is better than no writing – Dina Santorelli**_

* * *

Hermione and Luna stared at the tiny room in surprise.

"What _is_ this?"

It was a small, dusty room with grey, dirty walls, and didn't have anything of interest, really. Hermione reached for the wall, her face suspicious.

She blanched when her hand went right through it. She and Luna cautiously walked through the wall where her hand had passed.

"Illusion charm," Luna muttered.

"Okay, _now_ what is this?"

Beyond the walls, the place looked like a den. The place was huge, with pillars here and there, separating the room into small sections. They couldn't see the whole room, as there were curtains hanging from the ceiling at some places for seperatations.

One section seemes bigger than the others - speakers were piled on top of each other next to one wall, making it seem like the wall was made of speakers. The floor in front of the speakers was covered with mats. Hermione's eyes lit up.

"That place is _definitely_ for dancing."

Luna blinked. "Dancing?"

Hermione hummed, a grin on her face. "Means that a Muggleborn or Half-blood did this place - I don't think any Purebloods know how to use Muggle devices, much less _dance._" She glanced sheepishly at Luna. "No offense, though."

She walked to another section. Her eyes glittered. "Unbelievable. Laptops. At Hogwarts. Luna, pinch me."

Luna did so. Hermione winced.

"Not a dream, then."

There were curtains hanging in a straight line from the middle of the ceiling - or what _seemed_ like the middle of the room - as if dividing the place in half. Hermione and Luna carefully parted the curtains slightly. Hermione grinned again.

"This place is like a Muggleborn's dream palace - magic and electronics together. Beautiful."

Luna looked around curiously at the coaches and TVs littered around.

"The smell is familiar."

Hermione frowned at her. "I can't smell anything."

"It smells like Weasleys."

"...Hah?"

"The -the air. It's the air again."

"...You know, I think you have air-bending. Like, I've never seen you flip a page or something. It just turns by itself, as if you're ordering the wind to do it. Or something."

Luna gazed at Hermione. "Really? I never noticed. I've just never flipped a page." She blinked. "That's surprisingly unsettling."

Hermione spied a book on a nearby table. Before she told Luna what she wanted her to do it, she flipped over the cover.

"Says William Weasley. Didn't George say that's his oldest brother?"

"Yeah. Though I think it was Bill."

Hermione sighed when she saw Luna take interest in a painting that hung on a wall. She walked up to her and firmly dragged her away from a painting she was staring at. "Luna, try to lift this book."

Luna picked it up with her hands and stared at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, I mean with wind - try to imagine lifting it."

The book floated up for exactly a second and fell back down. Hermione looked pleased and impressed.

"Well at least I won't have any more headaches about you being an air-bender now. Congratulations."

"...You just congratulated me on something shameful."

"I'm freakin' awesome." Hermione glanced at Luna who looked flustered. "It's not bad. No one besides me and the boys - and I guess the twins - will know. And your father, if you want."

Luna winced and shook her head. Hermione narrowed her eyes at her. "...Okay."

_"What is this place?"_

Hermione blinked. "Was that Harry's voice?" She asked Luna.

"I think so."

_"It's probably just some empty broom closet, come on."_ Came Draco's annoyed voice.

Hermione stood in front of where her hand had gone through the grey walls, just on the other side.

"Guys, it's an illusion charm - just walk through the walls."

_"...Was that Hermione?"_

"Yeah, it's me. Dork. Walk through the walls, it'll lead you to us."

_"...How do I know this isn't a trick?"_

"Who else ya gonna believe?"

_"...Yeah it's Hermione. After you, loser."_

_"Jerk."_

They could practically _hear_ Draco roll his eyes. _"Oh, I have been_ burnt."

_"...That was_ so_ funny."_

_"Move it."_

_"My perfect ass?"_

_"...That's_ it."

Draco walked through the wall, looking pissed. Hermione fell over laughing.

"I am now _totally_ convinced you guys like each other," She said, gasping for breath. Luna giggled. Draco threw her a dirty look.

"If you even think about it, I'll force you to make Amortentia and make you feed it to Bulstrode."

Luna tilted her head. "You wouldn't do that, you like Her-"

Draco slapped a hand on her mouth, a look of sheer terror on his face. "I like _no_ one! You hear me, Lovegood?! _No_ one!"

Luna pushed away Draco's hand. "Your feelings would beg to differ."

_"Screw_ my _feelings!_ I don't care!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco. "Relax, drama queen. We won't tell anyone you have feelings for - er - Millicent." She winced.

Harry fell through the grey wall. They stared at him.

"You jumped?" Draco said in disbelief. "Man, you're a bigger doofus than I thought."

"Shut. Up. I didn't know, okay? And if you keep at it, I'll tell the whole school you like Bulstrode."

"I _don't!"_ Draco all but shrieked. "It's a huge misunderstanding! I wouldn't marry Bulstrode if she was the last girl on Earth!"

"...Okay, dude, chill."

"Don't you start, too. I had to bear with Scarhead's whining the whole way."

_"Excuse_ me? More like _I_ had to bear with _your_ whining! I swear, if you got all that from your father, then I feel so _sorry_ for Aunt Cissy!"

"I will _kill_ you, with my _bare hands-"_

"_Speakers_!?" Harry squeaked.

"Apparently so." Hermione said, grinning. "Though I didn't try them. They might set off alarms or something. Didn't wanna risk it."

Harry literally skipped towards the speaker-covered wall and walked towards a panel a bit off from the speakers. He pressed a few buttons with Hermione peering over his shoulder, telling him what not to press.

_**MY ANACONDA DON'T**_

They all stared at the speakers in horror.

_**MY ANACONDA DON'T**_

Except Luna, who had never heard such music before.

_**My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun**_

They finally seemed to come over their shock. Hermione covered Luna's ears with her hands - who looked put out at having people covering her sensory organs - and looked at Harry in disbelief.

"Well?! Turn it off before it starts up again!"

Harry almost destroyed a few buttons trying to switch everything off. Hermione removed her hands from Luna's ears, careful not to tangle her fingers in her wavy hair. She looked at them curiously.

"What did that person mean by not wanting them unless they have buns...?"

Draco turned around in a violent coughing fit. Harry followed his example after trying to control his laughter. Hermione glared at them. She turned back to Luna, who looked up at her with clear, curious eyes. Hermione took a deep breath.

"Luna, _please _forget that. Okay? It's very offensive, and you do now want to go around saying that to people. Really."

Luna blinked. "Okay."

"Okay, that's cleared up, so now-"

"GOT YOU, YOU THIEVING _SCOUNDRELS!"_

_"KNEEL!"_

"AND THEN OBEY _ALL_ OUR COMMANDS!"

"FOR ENTERING OUR DOMAIN WITHOUT PER-" The voice – voices – abruptly cut off.

"Wait, no, Merlin's beard, Dan, it's just them."

Draco glared at the three masked guys. "Yeah, _just_ us."

One of the three Indian-masked guys took off their mask, showing the face of George Weasley. He grinned down at the four. "Sorry, but you guys aren't even of age."

Hermione squirmed, trying to find her way out of the net that had fallen on them. "I don't even wanna know what _age_ has to do with _this."_

Fred and George helped them remove the net. Harry stared curiously at the third masked person. He seemed to blink.

"Oh, uh - Lee Jordan."

He removed his mask and grinned down at them. Luna smiled back.

"Well," Fred started, "It seems you've found our castle. We now must have you sign papers, lest you tell anyone about this room."

Hermione looked at them warily. "What happens if we tell?"

"You suffer a fate worse than death." George said brightly.

"...Okay. Can I ask some questions before we sign?"

The twins returned her wary look. "...Fire away."

Hermione smiled brightly. "Why do we need to sign papers?"

"...For secrecy."

"Obviously."

"Where are the papers?"

"...We don't have any. _Yet._ But that doesn't mean you go around telling everybody about this room."

Hermione made herself comfortable on a sofa and tugged Luna's sleeve to make her sit down. She gave her an amused look and plopped herself down. Draco and Harry sat across from them.

Lee sent the twins a questioning look. They ignored him and glared at the quad, who sent back innocent looks.

"Also," Harry began, "Care to tell us why you have… er, _specific_ _songs_ installed in that thing?" He pointed at the buttons panel.

The twins slowly grinned. Fred sat down next to Lee in front of a laptop, while George walked towards a cabinet - that looked like a fridge on the inside - took out a drink and sat down on an arm chair. He lifted a leg so he was sitting ankle-on-knee style. Then he proceeded to stare down at them while sipping from his glass.

Draco smirked when Hermione and Harry stifled snorts.

"If you're trying to act cool," Draco said with a not-so-straight face, "It's _really_ not working."

George rolled his eyes when Fred and Lee laughed.

"Okay, I'll tell you the history of this room. You were gonna ask, anyway." He pointed at Hermione. She grinned back sheepishly.

"Alright, so, truth be told, I have no idea how old this place is. All I know, is that Dad had this place when he was at Hogwarts. And I think that before him, our grandparents did. Basically, it's a place that some Muggleborn made way back and handed it down to another Muggleborn he or she trusted who handed it down to a person _he_ trusted, and so on. With me so far?"

They nodded.

"Right. So, this place ended up in Dad's hands. And you've met him, you know how crazy he is about Muggle stuff. It was a dream come true for him. Said he'd considered failing his grades just to stay here. He handed it down to Bill, who handed it down to Charlie, who handed it to Percy, who didn't want it, and gave it to us. And here we are."

They looked around again. "So what exactly do you guys _do_ here?"

"Hang out, do homework, chill out, the like. We tried the dancing stuff, but since none of us know how to dance, we just listen to the music."

"...I know how to dance."

They all stared at Draco.

"Do we even want to know?" asked Harry, trying to keep his jaw off the floor. "I learned with Hermione, but I've never seen _you_ dance."

"I was with Bella a while before you guys came," Draco said. "She dances, as you know, and she taught me. She loved it, was a good teacher, and I learned fast." He looked thoughtful. "Though I haven't danced for a long time."

Hermione's face lit up. She turned to George. Lee and Fred stopped trying to eavesdrop and came to sit with them.

"If we don't tell anyone, will you let us come here again? I know some Muggleborns who know how to dance - they were the ones who crashed Madam Rosmerta's place - and if I talk to them, they could come here and teach you guys. How about it?"

_She looks far too happy for them to refuse_, thought Draco._ She must really love dancing._

"Care to share your thoughts, _Dray_?" Harry said in a sly voice.

"Don't call me that," Draco replied immediately, "And shut the hell up."

Harry gave him a shit-eating grin.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Luna has an announcement to make."

"...No I don't."

Hermione looked at her, surprised and cross. "You said they could know."

"But-"

"There is nothing shameful about it," Hermione fumed, "It's not like you _asked_ for it, now did you? No. But you have it anyway, so you're going to be proud of it."

"There is nothing to be proud about." Luna's voice was hard, yet so soft. Hermione's face went blank. She picked up her bag and went towards the grey walls from where they had entered.

"Fine, then. Bitch about it by yourself for the rest of your life."

And with that, she left.

They sat in silence for a solid two minutes. Then, Luna got up and left, too.

Harry and Draco looked at each other uneasily.

Lee opened his mouth, then promptly shut it. He opened his mouth again.

"If there's anything I've learned about these type of fights, is that they'll make up on their own. If you two," He moved a finger from Harry to Draco and back, "Try to help, it might just get worse."

He walked up and got himself a can of something from the fridge-cabinet. He seemed to notice the surprised looks he was receiving. He rolled his eyes.

"Chill, I have three older sisters."

"...Our poor boy."

* * *

**Hopefully this chapter is good. I just had to add the Weasley twins in here. Now they have an excuse for coming into chapters without permission XD**

**Peeeeaaaaace ooouuttttteeh.**


	14. Chapter 14

**(Edited)**

**I got fab feedback from the last few chaps; thanks!**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 2.**

**Warnings for this chapter: Dramione fluffeh :D Not haphazardous though, I should think.**

**But then again, fluff is fluff, so. **

* * *

_**The writer is by nature a dreamer–a conscious dreamer – Carson McCullers**_

* * *

Hermione sighed.

She lifted her hands to rub her swollen eyes. Leaning against a tree, she blindly picked out a book from her bag and sighed again. After attempting to read a few words and failing, Hermione set the book down again with an angry huff.

"It doesn't matter," She mumbled to herself, "This was gonna happen sooner or later, it always does. I'll just go back to when it was just me, Harry and Draco."

_But what if they want Luna to stay?_

Hermione wrapped her arms around her knees, balancing herself on the heels of her feet and stared at her bag. "Then I'll just leave. They won't be able to choose between me and her, so I'll just get up and leave. Then I'll go to the waaaay long ago days, when it was only me, Dad and books. And I'll visit Bella occasionally."

_You shouldn't have lashed out at her._

"I _know,"_ Hermione moaned pitifully into her arms. "I _know,_ and I'm _sorry,_ but it doesn't matter now, she hates me."

_It's no one's fault but yours._

"Shut up," Hermione whispered, setting her head down in her arms. "I know, so shut up."

_You always think you know everything, and this is where it gets you._

Hermione's eyes blazed gold. "Shut _up."_

"You know, talking to yourself is the first step to mentality."

Hermione's head snapped up. Draco stared at her with a bemused look on his face.

He was hanging upside down on a branch. The way his hair hung down made her stomach flip.

"In fact, I think it was you who first told me that."

"You're hanging upside-down from a branch. By how you've put your feet, you'll fall down and break your shoulder."

_And now you're blabbing again._

She always did that when she was nervous. And whenever she was nervous, that negative voice popped up.

Hermione leaned back against the tree, grabbed her book and set it in front of her face, not wanting him to see her red eyes. She heard him sigh and drop onto the ground in front of her.

"No use hiding, I know you've been crying."

"If you're trying to make me laugh by spouting poems, then don't. Really. Besides, didn't Lee tell you not to bother us?"

"...How did you even...?

"...I guessed."

"Should've known."

A few seconds passed in silence. Draco rolled his eyes and snatched Hermione's book. She stared at him, highly bemused.

"What? You weren't even reading it."

"I look terrible."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Since when does Hermione Granger care about how she looks?"

Hermione winced. "Puberty?"

"And that was what, a few seconds ago?"

"Very funny Draco."

"Hey, I got you to smile, so you really can't judge."

He leaned back on his hands and lazily grinned at her. She couldn't help but smile back exasperatedly.

_It's not fair that you're Pureblood._ Hermione thought, caught between happiness and sadness_. It really isn't._

Draco frowned when she went silent again. He reached forward and placed a hand on her forehead. She glared at him.

"I'm not sick."

"Actually, I think you are. Feel for yourself."

_Probs 'cause you're sitting in front of me,_ _and no one's here. _She thought, mentally snorting.

"It's nothing Draco- wait, _what_ are you doing?"

Draco was leaning closer to her, his eyes narrowed and glowing bright.

_They're so silver and bright-_

"You smell."

"_Hah_?" Hermione deadpanned.

"No, I mean - it's a good smell. Really good. Can I?"

She hesitantly nodded and tried to keep her expression normal when Draco leaned in to her neck.

_I can feel his nose on my neck, should we be even doing this, what the hell-_

She sniffed, and her eyes widened.

_That smell._

She breathed in again.

_What_ is_ it?_

Draco stiffened when _she_ leaned into _his_ neck. _She_ froze when his _lips_ met her _neck._

But neither of them moved away.

"Draco...?"

"Wha- I- yeah, I mean, should I-"

"No- no, it's fine. Er, should _I_ move?"

_"No."_

She'd see his flaming face then. Though judging by the redness of her ears, Draco wasn't the only one whose stomach was trying out for the Olympics. At a sudden flash of white and the noise of a shutter, they shot away from each other. Colin Creevey stood a few feet away, looking rather put out.

"Why'd you move? I could've taken a few more pictures."

Hermione glanced at Draco, praying the redness in her cheeks had gone away. Though seeing Draco, she didn't think she'd mind if the red was still there, because _he_ was still flaming.

He was actually flaming.

_Oh God._

Draco's eyes were wide and the silver was glowing so bright, it was almost white - and his face was still red. And there was fire coming out of his ears.

Hermione's jaw dropped._ "Draco?"_

Colin snapped another picture of Draco, his eyes sparkling.

"He looks like-"

_Like he just came out of an erotic novel._ Hermione thought faintly. She winced when she just realized what she'd thought.

And then Colin shifted a little and took a picture of her.

She lunged for him. Colin squeaked and ran, clutching his camera to his chest.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but you looked more like a girl than I've ever seen you!"

"What the hell does that even mean?! I _am_ a girl! Creevey, get your ass back here, _right now!"_

_"I'm sorry Hermione! _And I meant it like, you never act like a girl!_"_

She stopped at the top of the hill, knowing she wouldn't be able to catch him now. She glared at his retreating back. Hermione then glanced behind her, seeing Draco standing there.

Unfortunately, there was no more red. Save for his hair now, as that was on fire now. She held herself from pouting.

"Hermione," Draco said, panting slightly from running up the hill, "Look at the lake."

She blinked and looked towards the water.

Colin was running next to the lake, and it seemed like there was a miniature wave about to splash on him. Which he was failing to notice, as he was positioning his camera to take a few more pictures of them.

Hermione glared again willed the wave to fall on him.

It did. They blinked when they heard Colin's shouts of protest.

Draco looked at her with wide eyes. "Did you do that?"

"I- I don't know. I don't think so."

She noticed her hands shaking and shoved them into her pant pockets. Draco frowned at her.

"Try it again."

She opened her mouth to refuse, but stopped by the look on Draco's face. She sighed.

She willed a wave halfheartedly. The water seemed as if someone was trying to lift it up, but was failing miserably. Draco glared at her. Hermione smirked back.

"Oi, just because you're a Fire-bender now, it doesn't mean that I have to bend something."

"...Is my hair on fire?"

"Yep."

"...Is it falling out?"

"No. Why don't you try putting it out - just will it to disappear or something."

The fire disappeared and Draco's eyes dimmed until they were back to steel grey.

"Gone?"

"Yeah."

Draco walked a bit back and picked up Hermione's bag from where he'd dropped it. He swung it over his shoulder and took her hand, leading her down the hill, towards the lake.

"Come on, we're gonna see if you can Water-bend or not."

"...Is it really that important?"

"'Course it is."

Hermione sighed again.

They walked back to Hogwarts, drenched to the bone.

"That," Hermione grinned, "Was _great_."

Draco hummed. "It'd be better if we'd brought along towels, though. Now I have to change."

Hermione grinned again.

"Sorry, but it _was_ you who insisted."

"Yeah, well. It was worth it."

Hermione stopped walking.

_Feelings suck._

She dropped her bag on the ground.

_But hey, that's life. I think?_

Draco stopped and looked at her questioningly.

She grinned again and jumped on him, throwing her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist.

_It's not like I'll like anyone like I like him._

Draco stumbled back a little, surprisingly not falling down. Maybe out of sheer will. He found himself thankful that he was taller than her.

She rubbed her nose against his neck, breathing in his scent. He seemed confused as to where he was supposed to place his hands and settled on holding Hermione up by her thighs.

"Hermione...?"

_I like you Draco. A lot. Heck, I'll bet anything I'm probably in love with you already. _Hemrione rolled her eyes._ I'm too young for this._

"Thanks Draco," Hermione mumbled. "For today. Cheering me up, Water-bending, Fire-bending, chasing Colin, holding my bag,"

Draco's eyes widened, his cheeks going warm again. Hermione continued.

"For letting me smell you, no matter how ridiculous that sounds,"

Draco grinned.

Hermione continued, grinning herself, "For not pushing me away, for being there whenever Harry wasn't, choosing to cheer me up instead of Luna."

She tightened her arms around his neck slightly, but Draco still noticed.

"This is weird, Draco."

Draco dropped his head onto her shoulder, breathing her in and marveling at how he didn't seem to be tiring of her smell.

"Yeah, I know." He mumbled against her neck.

Hermione slowly pulled back and stared at him. Draco smiled back at her lopsidedly and knocked her forehead with his.

She returned his lopsided smile.

* * *

Minerva felt like a teenager all over again. She barely contained her giddiness while she watched the two students go back inside. Severus watched her with a bemused face.

"Oh, come now, Severus. Don't rob an old woman of her only source of happiness."

"Spying on students' romances?"

_"Severus."_

"Professor," Severus started, rolling his eyes, "Those are your students. I hope you'll remember that."

"I really don't see your point. _And,"_ She said pointedly when Severus opened his mouth, "I _refuse_ to see the point. Besides, I didn't know you could say the word _romance,_ never mind _know_ what it actually _means."_

Severus refrained from rolling his eyes again. "I lived in America for three years, Professor. It's almost illegal not to say the word now and then. Especially when your neighbors are old women."

Minerva's lips quirked up. "Didn't you come here for Harry?"

Severus grimaced. "Potter- no Snape- _Merlin's pits__-"_

"…His _name,_ Severus."

"...Harry."

"See, now that wasn't too hard."

"Right. So - _Harry_ –" Severus grimaced again, "I don't know what to do with the- the- _boy." _He made a face.

Minerva looked at him with a soft look, which he pointedly ignored.

"You should treat him gently," She said, looking out the window again, "When the holidays come, take him to your house."

Severus squirmed in his chair. "Professor-"

"You should take Granger and Malfoy - Lovegood, too, as he seems to have a soft spot for her. He'll be more comfortable."

Severus pressed his lips together.

"Minerva, I don't have a house anymore."

Minerva's head snapped to look at him. _"What?"_

"I gave it up. Came to live at Hogwarts. Albus agreed."

"...Albus," Minerva sneered slightly, "He recommended you move out?"

"He said it was for the greater good," Severus helplessly shrugged when Minerva's eyes darkened.

"What for?"

Severus knew better than to hide it from her. "He gave it away to the Order - a place for their... meetings...?" His voice faltered as Minerva's eyes grew darker.

"Remus!" She barked.

Said person shot up from the sofa, reaching for his wand. Remus blinked his eyes blearily. "What-"

"You will be taking Severus to your house in America in the summer, so he'll be able to spend more time with his son. Understood?"

Remus blinked again. "Wha- yeah, sure, no problem, Professor."

"That's all. My apologies for disrupting your sleep."

"No problem," Remus mumbled, laying back down on the sofa, turning his back to them and falling asleep within seconds, tired from the full moon. Severus looked at Minerva, bewildered.

"What did you-"

Minerva sipped her tea loudly. Severus snapped his mouth shut. Minerva leaned back in her chair, looking satisfied.

"There's _one_ of my problems solved."


	15. Chapter 15

**At last, the 15th chapter of this story. So proud *-* **

**Okay, so I freaked out while writing the last chapter - a lot. It was my first time writing anything remotely fluffy straight from my brain, but thankfully, I got good feedback. Thanks.**

**A NOTE TO THE HARRY X LUNA FANS:**

**Right, so I got bad news and good news;**

**Good news: I got multiple requests saying they want some Harry/Luna action. I will definitely put them in here, because I sincerely love their ship and it is part of this story.**

**Bad news: Thing is, Luna's a year younger than Harry. If I make Harry lay his hands on her, I'll beat myself up, beat Harry up, be beat up by people, etc., so yeah.**

**More good news: So I'll definitely add fluffy bits, but I'll get them more seriously when Luna's a bit more older. That's a promise to all you Larry shippers.**

**Disclaimer: See chapter two**

* * *

_**Writers aren't exactly people… they're a whole bunch of people trying to be one person – F. Scott Fitzgerald**_

* * *

Harry stood in front of Luna as they stared at the wild looking man with fascinated horror who'd just kicked the door shut. The crazy look in his eyes made Harry's doubt disappear, only to be replaced with rage. Luna fisted her hand in Harry's shirt worriedly, hoping he wouldn't do anything reckless. The wild man took in Harry's glowing green eyes in surprise then smirked.

"Well, well, well, look who got his-"

Whatever he was going to say was lost, as the door was crashed open, revealing a disheveled Draco and Hermione. Judging by their glowing eyes and the crazy look in them, Harry decided that they could pass as insane as the wild man.

Taking them all in, Luna decided that they were all dancing on the edge of crazy.

Hermione rushed to Harry and Luna, while Draco walked tentatively towards the injured Ron.

"What the heck is he doing here?"

"Are you alright? Where's the black dog, we saw him, too-"

Sirius kicked the door shut again, this time with far more force. He was clutching his nose with a hand.

_"Fuck,_ my _nose-"_

Hermione and Draco looked at him startled, coming to stand in front of Harry and Luna on reflex.

"My _God."_ Hermione breathed, her eyes wide. She turned to Harry with blazing eyes, reaching for her wand.

"Why the _hell_ did you come here when you _saw_ he only took Ronald, he probably didn't even _want_ anything from you, and _you-"_

"What could he," Harry snarled, pointing at the unfortunate Weasley, "Have that I don't?"

Ron winced, huddling back into the wall a bit more, clutching his rat. Luna sent him a pitiful look.

_"He,"_ Sirius said softly, "Has a _rat_." He looked over the children while Scabbers struggled in Ron's arms.

"You wouldn't happen to know what the _rat_ has done, now would you?" He continued. He took a step forward.

Only to have the door swung open. _Again._

This time it was Remus who came in, looking just as worried and flustered as them. He looked over the children, searching for injuries. Once deeming them fine, his eyes followed the bloodstains to behind the door. He carefully moved the door out of the way.

"Sirius...?"

"My fucking _nose."_ Came the pitiful reply.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Remus breathed in relief. Draco could literally hear the wheels turning in Hermione and Luna's heads, while Ron and Harry stared at Remus in shock.

"Professor," Hermione started hesitantly, "He- I mean, you- no-"

Luna covered for her. "Professor, what are you doing?"

Remus looked over the children carefully. He looked at Sirius - who gave him a look that _said 'I didn't ask you to come here, sort this out yourself,'_ \- then back at the children. He sighed and sat down on the dirty, tattered floor.

"I suppose I'll just have to start at the beginning." He looked at Ron. "But first, Ronald, you must allow me to take care of your rat. May I?"

Ron looked far too traumatized to argue. Remus accepted the Scabbers from him and wearily handed him to Sirius. And, of course, the rat changed into the one and only, Peter Pettigrew.

After a _lot_ of yelling and screeching and "I've waited long enough! Twelve years! In Azkaban!", they finally managed to corner Peter. Coincidentally, Sirius was standing behind the door again. Which crashed open again - obviously - this time revealing the disheveled biological father of Harry Potter.

_"Fuck_ this _shit,"_ Sirius moaned, dropping onto a knee, clutching his now profusely bleeding and very much broken nose. "I did _not_ escape Azkaban to have my bloody nose _broken."_

Harry felt something akin to pride when he took in Severus, whose hair was tangled and sticking up and robes were ripped.

Harry glanced at his own clothes and grinned.

* * *

"Okay, but he _is_ technically Harry's Godfather - see, James Potter signed papers, and he was the legal - if not _biological_ \- father of Harry. So that means Sirius Black is Harry's _legal_ father's best friend, who was, of course, named as his Godfather." Hermione explained.

Remus looked at her proudly while Sirius gave Severus his smuggest look, which was returned by sneering.

They were all sitting on the grass, away from the Whomping Willow, Peter in a custom made cage in his animagus form. They were discussing who would now be Harry's legal guardian, as Sirius was far from handing it over to Severus. Needless to say, it wasn't going smoothly.

Sirius grinned at Severus, who sat across from him. "I _own_ the boy, _Snivellus,_ and there is _nothing_ that can make me hand _you_ – of all people - his Guardianship."

Luna surprised them all by getting up and sitting next to Severus, who looked at her, surprised.

Harry liked Sirius after their few minutes of chatting, he honestly did. But he wanted a father. And he wanted Severus to be that father. He got up from his position next to Draco and went to sit on Severus' other side. Hermione grinned faintly when Draco smirked. They, too, got up and went to sit in front of Severus, who was now looking completely bewildered.

Remus leaned back onto his hands, gulping down the potion Severus had brought for him and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He grinned at Sirius.

"Looks like you're gonna have to hand over the Guardianship to him, Padfoot."

Sirius looked at them all, bewildered.

_"Traitors."_

* * *

Once they were all safely inside the Hospital Wing, Harry turned to Sirius, only to find himself beaten by Ron.

"So what did you do with Scabbers?" Ron asked, his eyes wide. Harry twitched with annoyance.

"_Pettigrew_."

Sirius looked completely out of place in the hospital. He felt it, too.

"Handed him to Dumbledore," He replied, plopping onto a bed. "Said he'll send him to Azkaban."

"He _said_...?"

"...I don't really trust that guy anymore. Don't trust many people other than Remus now, really. But I'm sure he'll send the bastard there."

Hermione tilted her head. "What's going to happen to you, then?"

"Hopefully I'll be given a trial, like I deserved," Sirius said, turning onto his side and staring at all the children. His gaze stopped at Harry.

"You sure you wouldn't have me as your Guardian?"

"Come off it, filth," Severus said from the bed next to Ron's while sneering. Madam Pomfrey was bandaging his wrist which Sirius had mercilessly snapped. "He's my son, my blood, mine. How does it feel having what you wanted taken away from you?"

The children winced, knowing that Sirius technically did have everything taken away from him when he was sent to Azkaban. But Sirius didn't seem to be affected. He stood up from his bed when Poppy moved away from Severus and came to stand in front of him, his grey eyes glowing faintly. Sirius took Severus's wrapped wrist with a gentleness he himself didn't know possessed, and brought it to his lips. He saw Severus's wide eyes and stared back calmly.

Hermione covered Luna's eyes and watched the scene alongside Harry and Draco - and from behind the hospital wing doors, Poppy and Minerva - with rapt attention.

"I," Sirius started softly, never looking away from Severus's wide eyes, which had begun to glow a soft brown, "Of all people, would of _course_ know." His lips grazed the skin above the bandages on his hand. "But I'm not the only one, now am I?"

Severus opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't come up with any words, finding his mouth suddenly dry. He snapped it shut again. Sirius chuckled softly, letting go of his wrist.

"I always seem to leave you speechless, don't I?"

And with that tiny drama, he went back to the bed across to Ron's and pulled the blanket over his head.

Draco fidgeted and Harry looked extremely uncomfortable, while Hermione let go of Luna's ears and continued grinning.

* * *

Behind the Hospital Wing doors, Minerva and Poppy unwrapped their arms - which had been tangled due to the tension inside - let go of their breath and tried to control their smiles.

Severus dropped his head onto his table and moaned for the thousandth time. Remus patted his back sympathetically.

"Hey, it doesn't matter if you like guys, you know. Although I never would've thought you'd go for Sirius, but hey, it's not a big deal." Remus looked at him cautiously. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you sleep with Lily if you liked…"

Severus glared at him through one eye. "I _do_ mind you asking, therefore, hah, no answer."

Remus leaned back. "Fair enough. Really though, it isn't a big deal. Although I still don't get the whole thing, but yeah."

Minerva snorted, flipping through her book without interest. "That's not what he's worried about."

Remus looked at them, confused. "Then?"

Minerva rolled her eyes when he Severus didn't reply. "It's because he's in love with a man who is almost undoubtedly straight, and even if he just might not be as _straight_ as he appears to be, he will very obviously not care to pay the slightest attention to Severus."

"Gee, _thanks, _Minerva." Severus muttered. "And I'm not in love with him."

"Or, so Severus likes to think," Minerva continued, ignoring him. "And not only does he worry about the man's sexual orientation, but the same man who almost killed him in their junior years." She raised her eyebrows at Remus. "Does that make enough sense?"

Remus nodded sheepishly. Severus glared at Minerva.

"Why do you hate Sirius so much?"

They stared at him expectantly. Severus sighed.

"It's as Professor said," He complained, dropping his head into his arms again, "He was ready to kill me because of Remus. Do you honestly think he'd want me? Besides," He hurriedly continued when Minerva opened her mouth, "I need to take care of Harry right now, as you both have succeeded to remind me no less than five hundred times a day, so I can't exactly go around sleeping with dogs."

They stared at him, utterly bemused. He shrugged.

"Still," sighed Remus, "Of all people, I don't understand why _him."_

Severus snorted. "Welcome to my pathetic life."

After a few minutes of them trying to encourage him, Severus finally got fed up and left. After he turned a corridor, he ran into the most famous trio of Hogwarts - as of the moment, anyway - who were heading to Herbelogy. They greeted him politely, while Harry pulled at his sleeve.

"Hey, do you like Sirius?" He asked, looking at Severus with curious eyes.

Severus narrowed his eyes.

"_What_ gave you that idea?"

Harry blinked. "Well, in America, I've seen that if you like someone, you marry them even if they're of the opposite gender. Is it different in the Wizarding World?"

"...No."

Draco grinned up at him. "So you two _are-"_

_"No."_

The children's shoulders sagged.

"Why not, though?" Hermione asked, put out.

"I'll tell you when the school year is over."

"But we're gonna go to America, then!"

Severus glanced at them all. "I'll be coming. Apparently, Professor Lupin lives there as well. I'll be staying at his house."

Harry's bright face made Severus think that it _might_ just be worth it after all.


	16. Chapter 16

**Cannot believe how well you guys responded to the last chapter. Guess there are more Sev x Siri fans than I'd thought initially. What a relief.**

**And; MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry to all those who shipped WolfStar or something and are now stuck trying to gather their thoughts! But to be very honest, I ship Snack more than WolfStar, so yeah. Sorry guys.**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 2.**

**Okay, so Doragon gave me a few ideas and now my mind's messed up now. If anything goes wrong, the blame is on her. Hope y'all like this chap.**

**And there will be a few drastic changes in here, so if you guys think the rating needs to go up, do tell.**

* * *

_**A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit – Richard Bach **_

* * *

Three envelopes, two of them a crisp, clean white, one of them scorched on a corner. The third envelope a dull yellow with a bright red seal. The group of seven stared at the particular yellow one.

"Well," Draco said, reaching for a slice of chocolate cake, "Unless my eyes betray me, I see you've got a Howler."

The twins glanced at each other then resumed staring at the yellow letter.

"I don't remember doing anything this time."

"Me neither. Maybe it's for Ron?"

They looked hopeful. "Might be."

Lee rolled his eyes, standing up. "I'm gonna sit this one out, the last one nearly ruined my ears."

Luna reached for the letter. George snatched it away with horror.

_"What_ are you _doing?!"_

"I was gonna open the Howler," Luna said, looking put out. "Won't it be better to open that one first?"

"Insanity."

"Completely bizarre."

"Oi," Harry said with narrowed eyes, "She's right. Get over the worst thing first, you'll have to do it anyway."

Fred stared at him bemused and nudged George. "Forgot he's in love."

"Anyway, it's started shaking now." Hermione pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"But we didn't even _do_ anything!" George wailed.

Neville Longbottom had happened to be passing by, apparently trying to get his hair to flatten. He glanced at the yellow envelope and paled.

_"That,"_ He gulped, pointing at it shakily. "Is at the point where it will combust itself. And what comes next is not nice in _any_ way."

They all stared at him. He seemed to remember who he was talking to and winced.

"Ah- right, so sorry- I'll just go-"

George stuffed the letter in Neville's hands, who stared at it with horror.

"What are you _doing?!" _He squeaked.

"We," George said, taking Fred by the arm and pulling him up, "Are going to the other side of the hall. When we reach there, you shall open it and we will be in your debt. Okay? Thanks!"

They ducked under the tables and benches, hurriedly rushing to the other side of the hall. Students stopped eating their breakfast to stare at them.

"But it's gonna eat itself any minute!" Neville hollered after them with a stricken look on his face. The students looked from the twins to Neville.

Neville glanced at the letter, then at the rest of the group. They nodded encouragingly at him. He gulped. Holding the letter out in front of him, he checked if the twins had reached the other side yet. They gave him a thumbs up. Neville ripped open the letter and covered his ears. Some people copied his actions.

Silence.

Some people stared at the letter expectantly. Neville slowly removed his hands from his ears.

"Seems it's too late," He said, leaning against a bench in relief. He glanced at Fred and George from across the hall. "They'll have to pay, though. If their mother is anything like Gran, then they should write their wills."

They looked at him curiously.

"So," Harry said, "You get a lot of Howlers, huh?"

Neville looked at them sheepish-awkward way. "I'm rather clumsy and not that good in my studies. So yeah. I do." He picked up his bag and nodded at them. "Bye, then."

Luna tilted her head slightly. "Goodbye."

Fred and George cheerfully walked back and clapped Neville on the back.

"Can't be anything worse than a Howler, I'll bet."

"...It is." Neville mumbled, trying not to give them a judging look.

"Ah, well, we'll live."

No one noticed the envelope rising from the ground up into the air slowly. Save for Colin, who was sitting on the bench next to them, but unfortunately his mouth was too full. He ended up making rather peculiar faces and waving his arms around.

Harry confusedly waved back. Colin pointed at the letter with wide eyes. Neville followed his gaze and covered his ears, his eyes widening. The letter opened and took in a deep breath.

Fred and George got no such warnings.

**"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!" the envelope barked, "THIS IS THE LAST STRAW! I WILL NOT BE STATING DETAILS IN THIS HOWLER AS THEY ARE FAR TOO EMBARRASSING AND I AM UTTERLY HUMILIATED! BUT I HAVE A FEW WORDS FOR BOTH OF YOU! DO NOT. BOTHER. COMING. BACK. AT. THE END. OF. THIS YEAR."**

The envelope seemed to be shakily taking another breath. It then turned and stared to no one in particular.

**"Do go on eating your breakfast, dears, so sorry to interrupt you all."**

It then turned back to the twins and sneered, promptly ripping in front of their eyes.

Whoever had their ears covered slowly removed their hands. Fred and George slumped onto the bench, their backs leaning against the table.

"I still don't know what we did."

"Think, George, _think."_

"...We didn't send that toilet seat, did we?"

"Toilet seat?" snickered Draco

"Nope. I don't think we went around cutting up her yarn, either."

"Yeah, we didn't." Fred looked at George with wide eyes. "Merlin, you don't think-"

"That Mum got those pictures instead of Charlie?" George looked sick. "Yes, I do think."

Fred moaned into his hands. "Lord, _no."_

"Care to tell us?"

"How much time is there left till classes start?"

"'Bout half an hour."

"Right, so we asked Charlie if Dragons could have sex. Only as a joke."

"And then we drew some pictures - rather graphic - and sent them to him."

"As a joke."

"And we think that maybe Errol may have given them to Mum instead."

_"Not_ as a joke."

Hermione looked revolted. _"Pigs."_

"Shut up."

Harry looked thoughtful. "Hey, she said not to bother coming home, right? Whatcha gonna do now?"

Fred reached for the other two letters, handing George the scorched one. "Dunno. Bill might let us stay." They quickly skimmed through their letters. George's face darkened.

"It wasn't Errol, it was The Big Man himself."

"No way, Charlie sent them to Mum?"

Their eyes glinted.

"We're gonna make some dung bombs, specially for him."

"What does the other letter say?" Luna asked, braiding a few strands of her hair. Fred frowned.

"Other one's from Bill. Says he's going to be transferred to another country for some time when school finishes. Seems like we won't be able to stay with him either."

Harry slammed the table with his fist, making a few students stare. He ignored them and grinned at the twins.

"That's great! You can come stay with us this year!"

Hermione winced. "I don't know, Bella might be overloaded you know - Professors are coming too, remember?"

"Yeah, I know, but who cares? We'll help out."

Draco stared at Harry bemused. "Will _they?"_ He asked, tilting his head towards the twins. Harry stared at them.

"You will, right?"

"...If there's good food."

"And that's coming from the sons of the old cook herself." George added.

The trio grinned. "Oh, you'll _love_ the food."

* * *

Hermione was doing her packing in her dorms - which she'd surprisingly kept to the last minute - when Luna came up to her. Hermione looked at her, surprised.

"How'd you get in?"

Luna looked slightly uncomfortable. "It was a rather easy password."

Hermione searched Luna's face for something she didn't know. Saving it for later, she returned to her packing.

"I'm gonna have to go back to the room to get my laptop," She mumbled to herself. She glanced up at Luna who had sat on her bed.

"Why do you look so upset?"

Luna flinched slightly. "I'm not."

"...Okay. Does it have to do with that letter?" Hermione asked, staring at the paper in Luna's hands. Luna covered it up. She winced and uncovered it again.

"WoulditbealrightifIcomewithyoutoAmerica?"

Hermione blinked, looking back up at Luna. "Huh?"

Luna stood up and walked towards the door, red in the face.

"Nothing, never mind, sorry to bother you-"

Hermione grabbed a braid. "Woah, hold on a second. You wanna come?"

_...I could've worded that better. _She winced.

Luna didn't seem bothered and stared at her, finding herself annoyed having her hair pulled.

"I think you snapped my neck." She said mildly.

Hermione blinked again and let go. "Right, sorry. What makes you want to come to America? I'm not objecting, but I just thought you'd want to spend time with your father or something."

Luna's shoulders slumped. She shoved the paper into Hermione's hands and flopped onto her bed. Hermione looked at her then at the letter.

"I read it?"

"If you can eat it, please do so."

"Right then."

After quickly skimming through the letter, she looked at Luna.

"Well," she said, putting the letter aside and resuming her packing, "That sucks."

"...Daddy'll be gone for the whole time."

"Yeah, I know."

"...So I can't come?"

"Who said that? 'Course you can." Hermione snickered. "Harry'll be ecstatic."

"So I can go get my stuff?"

"Yeah, go back to the common room. Everyone's gone by now, so it shouldn't be a problem. If the boys aren't there, you can come back up-"

"And if anyone bothers me, holler."

"Har har."

Luna smiled gratefully and skipped towards the door. "Thanks 'Mione."

"No problem."

After closing her trunk, Hermione slung her bag over her shoulders and shrunk her trunk, pocketing it and walking downstairs. The rest were waiting for her.

"I have to go get some of our stuff from that room." She glanced at the time. "There's about an hour before we leave for the train, there should be enough time."

Draco took her bag from her and slung it over his shoulder. "Me and Harry will go and get your stuff, you and Lovegood go check the Weasels, yeah?"

"Yeah sure. We'll check on the Professors, too."

Harry pocketed his trunk. "Half an hour?"

"Or less, yeah."

They left the Slytherin Common Room and went their different ways.

* * *

They all drowsily stood up as the train stopped. Harry stretched out his arms, letting out a satisfied sigh. Fred and George handed them their stuff.

"You guys sleep like rocks, it's scary."

"We slept the whole way?"

"Yep. Luna woke up a few times, but she couldn't stay up long, she ended up a yawning mess."

Walking out of the cabin, they drunkenly made their way out of the train. Hermione sleepily looked around for Dan and Bella. Draco frowned and poked Hermione.

"Mother didn't say anything about coming to pick us up, did she?"

"Nope. Why, you see her?"

Draco searched the crowds again. "I _think_ I did..."

Harry rubbed his eyes.

"Does anyone see Dad or Lupin...?"

"...Nope. They're not here either."

Fred and George looked slightly panicky.

"They didn't forget us, right?"

Harry made a face. "What the hell, no."

"Just making sure. Mum forgot once."

"Just once, mind you, but it was enough."

Luna squinted her eyes. "That lady reminds me of Draco."

Hermione and Draco snapped their heads, turning to look at where Luna was staring. "Where?"

Harry stared at them then shrugged. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "AUNT CISSY?!"

The blond woman turned to look at them and started to walk near, her blue eyes bright. Hermione walked towards her worriedly. "Where's Dad? And Bella?"

Narcissa grinned. "They're waiting at home, don't worry." Her eyes went over them, lips quirking up. "You all grow up so fast, it's scary."

"They're scary in _nature."_ Fred mumbled to George. Narcissa noticed Luna and the twins at that moment. She quirked an eyebrow at the younger children.

"And who are they?"

Harry rubbed his nose, apparently still sleepy. "She's a friend. The other two are homeless."

The twins blanched. "What the hell, Harry?"

"Luna Lovegood."

"Fred Weasley."

"George Weasley."

"Weasleys, and a Lovegood." Narcissa repeated, somewhat flatly. "Ah, well. Seems like I'll have to stay this time after all."

"Oh, and we're going to have to wait for Uncle Sev and Remus, too."

"...What are you kids _doing,_ opening up a _foster_ house?"

* * *

They'd left with Narcissa after Remus had come up to them saying there was a problem with a few students, promising they'd come over after a while. The ride to Malfoy Manor had been eerily silent, what with Harry falling asleep again. Fred and George felt the awkwardest of all. Hermione took pity on them.

"We're only gonna stop at Draco's house for a while, then go to the airport. We have to buy yours and Luna's tickets after all."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They lapsed into an awkward silence again.

Draco rolled his eyes.

* * *

"I," gasped Fred, "Am _never_ going on another plane. _Ever."_

Harry walked through the metal scanner and went to get his bag. "It's how you're gonna go back to Hogwarts, man. Just one more time."

Fred moaned. Remus patted his back. Hermione pushed him through the metal scanner, Draco pushing George through next. Narcissa checked to make sure no one had forgotten anything.

"Right then. Hermione, honey, do you have your - er - mobile?"

"Yep. Call Dad or Bella?"

"Dan. Tell him to bring a van, there won't be enough space in that - thing."

"...I hope you didn't say that in front of him, he's very proud of his car."

Remus stared at Narcissa while Severus glared at the metal scanner suspiciously.

"You didn't, right?" The werewolf asked worriedly.

She looked away with an uncaring face. "It's such a small thing, I might just have."

Hermione and Remus shook their heads at her. "Poor Dad."

They walked out of the airport and sat down on the sidewalk with their stuff while Narcissa talked to Dan. While they were waiting, Harry turned to both Professors.

"You guys are coming to Bella's first, right? I want them to meet you."

Severus stared at Harry, who fidgeted under his gaze. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Harry, we'll be coming to Arabella's first."

"You know her?"

"Yeah. Dumbledore introduced us for some work or something. I don't even remember. Something about a group of Wizards using Muggles as experiments?"

Hermione stared at him. "People _do_ that?"

"Obviously."

A few seconds later, a black van pulled up in front of them. Dan stuck his head out, blanching when he saw the crowd.

"You weren't kidding when you said you'd brought a zoo."

Narcissa smirked, opening the trunk of the van. Remus and Severus putting in all their luggage.

"No, I wasn't."

Dan looked at Hermione, Draco, Harry and grinned.

"You kids-"

"Uncle, if you're going to say we've grown up again, don't."

He smiled fondly.

"Welcome back, you brats."

* * *

***Covers fingers in bandages***

***Stretches back***

***Holds ice pack to head***

***Glares***

***Fans self***


	17. Chapter 17

**(Edited)**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 2.**

**Teenagers aren't the only ones that are scary; see **_**clowns. **_

_*****_**Shudder**_*****_

* * *

_**Writer's block: when your imaginary friends won't talk to you - Unknown**_

* * *

Hermione's bag fell to the floor as she stared at Arabella. Arabella turned from washing dishes in surprise at the noise. Her face brightened when she saw Hermione and she quickly dryed her hands, going around a counter to put her arms around Hermione.

"I didn't think you'd all be back so soon!" Arabella said, pulling away to look at Hermione properly. She grinned softly. "At this rate, you'll be taller than me next year."

Arabella frowned when Hermione continued staring at her with a dumbstruck look.

"Hermione?"

"You're _pregnant,"_ Hermione whispered in an awed voice. Arabella stared back at her in shock, her face flushing.

"How- what- I'm not even showing much yet, how did you-"

Hermione's eyes went wide. "You really _are."_

"Did _Dan_ tell you?"

"...You had sex with Dad?" Hermione said in disbelief,_ "Dad?!"_

Hermione turned and ran out of the kitchen, looking completely horrified. Arabella went after her worriedly.

"Hermione, hold on-"

"DAD?!" Hermione shrieked, "_DAD?!"_

Dan's walked through the front door, carrying their bags. "Hermi, what-"

"YOU GOT BELLA _PREGNANT_ AND YOU DIDN'T _TELL_ ME?!"

Dan flinched, looking at Arabella with wide eyes. She shrugged back hopelessly. Hermione stared at them speechlessly, her eyes blazing gold.

Harry and Draco stuck their heads through the front door with wide eyes. Severus and Remus cautiously stayed behind the door where they wouldn't be seen, but could hear everything. The Weasley twins didn't bother with subtlety and watched from the front door.

Luna however hadn't heard anything, and walked through the front door with Hedwig on her arm before anyone could stop her. The red-heads didn't even bother. Luna looked curiously at Dan, Arabella and Hermione's flushed faces. Sticking out a hand, she smiled politely at Arabella, hoping to break the tension.

"I'm Luna Lovegood, you must be Bella. Or Arabella. Is it alright if I call you Bella?" Luna blinked and rubbed her nose. "I think I smell Kneazles."

"...Yeah. No problem."

There'd been far too many people, so in the end they'd just decided to order pizza for dinner. So now, they were sitting in Arabella's living room, some on chairs, others on the carpet.

The silence was deafening. Harry, Fred and George tried chewing a bit more quietly.

Hermione and Dan looked incredibly moody, while the rest of them fidgeted. Remus and Arabella were desperately thinking of ways to break the tension.

"So, Remus, I heard you're now teaching at Hogwarts," Arabella said, "You too, Severus?"

Remus looked grateful. "Yeah, I'm teaching Defense Against The Dark Arts right now. Severus teaches Potions."

"And they," Arabella's eyes swept over the children as she spoke, "They're good?"

Severus's mouth quirked up from one corner. "My own blood isn't."

Harry glared at him.

"Well, _you're_ not good at expressing your _feelings._ So we're fair."

Severus rolled his eyes. Hermione and Dan sulkily reached for another slice at the same time. Hermione immediately retracted her hand and glared at the wall. Dan's eye twitched. Hermione looked up at the ceiling carelessly. Rolling her eyes, she stood up.

"I'm going up, call me if you need anything. Arabella, me and Luna get the guestroom, yeah?"

Arabella's heart clenched from the lack of her nickname. "I- yeah, sure. If you need help-"

"I don't." Hermione said with fake cheer, walking away without looking back. Arabella stared at Dan grimly, who was reaching for another slice glumly. He didn't notice when she glared at him. She slapped his hand away from the box. They glared at each other.

"May I talk to you in the kitchen, _dear?" _Arabella said with a bright smile.

Dan noisily stood up and walked briskly to the kitchen. Arabella smiled at the rest of them.

"We'll just be a moment, help yourselves to more, yes?"

Back in the kitchen, Dan sprinkled salt over the counter and idly twirled his finger through it. Arabella stared at him exasperatedly.

"Dan, go _talk_ to her!"

He sighed, placing his elbows in the counter. "She won't talk right now."

"That doesn't mean you don't _try!"_

_"You_ try."

"She. Is. Pissed." Arabella ground from between her teeth, her blue eyes narrowed. "Do you honestly think she'll listen to someone who isn't a relative or guardian or whatsoever?"

Dan gazed up at her from the salt, distracted by her wavy black hair tied back and her bright blue eyes_ and how she'd looked when he'd first taken her, so beautifully pale, her black hair spread out, those wonderful-_

_"Daniel."_

Dan's shoulders slumped. "Fine."

"Off you go then."

Arabella walked back to her guests while Dan slowly trudged up the stairs. Draco squirmed.

"I really don't think that's a good idea, Bella."

Arabella's eyes flashed. She calmly sat back on her chair and reached for her plate.

"They'll be fine Draco."

Draco sighed, standing up and taking his plate to the kitchen. "No they won't."

Arabella crossly opened her mouth and left it hanging when they heard - and _felt_ the _vibrations_ \- of a door slamming.

"YOU'RE _ALWAYS_ LIKE THIS! WHAT ABOUT WHEN ANNA CHEATED ON YOU, HUH? I FIGURED THAT OUT MYSELF! _YOU_ DIDN'T TELL ME!"

Hermione stormed down the stairs sneering, her eyes a brilliant red-gold, Dan running down after her.

"'Mione, please just-"

"AND LETS NOT FORGOT WHEN _MOM - MY BLOOD MOTHER_ \- CAME TO OUR HOUSE, AND THAT'S THE FIRST TIME I FIND THAT SHE'S FROM THE BLOODY _MAFIA!_ DID YOU TELL ME _THAT?!_ NO! _SHE_ DID!"

"Hold on, don't you dare leave the house-"

"AND NOW I FIND THAT YOU'VE MADE BELLA PREGNANT. _BELLA._ AND WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU DO WHAT YOU ALWAYS DO; _YOU DON'T TELL ME!_"

"Hermione Jean Granger, I swear-"

Hermione turned to him, snarling. "Oh, now you're swearing, huh? Well," She pulled on the nearest jacket she could find - Draco's black hoodie, Harry and Luna faintly thought - and turned the key in the lock, _"You_ can go and find someone who actually gives a _damn,_ _Daddy dearest."_

She slammed the door behind her, leaving Dan stood at the end of the stairs, pale with frustration. Arabella stood up worried, completely regretting sending him after Hermione. Remus and Severus pulled her back down in alarm. Dan stood there for a moment, trembling with all the negative emotions storming through his body, then left the house through the back door.

Draco gave Arabella 'I told you so' look and shrugged on a hoodie that was hanging from the coat stand, presuming it was Dan's. He tossed Harry and Luna their jackets and held open the door. Before leaving, Luna turned to the three adults.

"I'm assuming you'll go after Uncle, so good luck. And congratulations." She said, addressing Arabella. Turning to Severus and Remus, she continued, "And I'm quite sure Harry will forgive you if you go to your own house, _if_ it isn't too far." She looked back outside when they heard Harry holler for her. "Right then, I'll be going. Goodbye!"

Arabella let out a shaky sigh. Remus sent her a sympathetic look, while Severus felt as if he'd just seen the biggest romance comedy scene in the world.

* * *

"Where do you think she'd be?"

"Well I bet she's not climbing trees right now."

Luna looked around curiously. "What's that place?" She asked, pointing at what looked like a shopping center. Harry looked at it.

"That's where people go shopping for their stuff. Like Diagon Alley, except there's nothing magical or anything."

"Oh. Do you think she would be there?"

Harry snorted. "Hermione_ hates_ malls and shopping."

"But it would be crowded, right?"

Draco gazed at her. "Your point?"

"Being in a crowd can distract you from your thoughts, since there's so much going on."

Fred and George hummed. "She's right, as usual."

Harry did a full 360 degrees. "There's about three crowded places here. You have your phone Draco?"

"Yeah."

"Right, I'll take Luna with me-" George coughed slightly while Fred and Draco smirked, "- And you guys can go over there," He said to the twins. "You guys can go over there, and Draco-" Harry looked around for Draco, only to find him already gone. He sighed when he spotted him a few miles away.

"I think he's headed for the open area, so we'll go with the malls." He rummaged his pockets for his mobile. "I don't get _why_ he won't tell Hermione he likes her."

The twins' jaws dropped. "You're kidding."

"_I'm_ kidding? You guys seriously haven't seen the way he looks at her?" Harry rolled his eyes upward and stuck his tongue out, looking dreamy. "He looks something like this, man."

"...His parents wouldn't agree."

"...Say what?"

"He's Pureblood," Luna said softly, staring at Draco's back, "Some people are very particular about Blood Status. Not only is Hermione a Muggleborn, Draco's family also used to be on the Dark Side."

"But Voldemort's gone now, right? Shouldn't be a problem."

Fred rolled his eyes. "If only life were that easy."

"Well, it does explain why he just walked off like that, I guess..." George said, uncomfortably.

"Which you could've _told_ me."

"Which we chose _not_ to."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Meet back here in less than two hours, and _please_ avoid pranking people."

"Yessir."

The twins waited till there was some distance between Harry and Luna and them. They rolled their eyes.

"Honestly, Harry."

* * *

Hermione had indeed, gone to a crowded area in an effort of collecting her thoughts and knowing no one would notice her glowing eyes in the bright sun. So far, her anger had only rose steadily, and she had started to worry she might hit someone.

She sighed and squinted at the sun. Grimacing, she looked back down, only to come face-to-face with a very familiar face. Hermione blinked.

"Colin?"

Colin grinned. "Hey! Never thought I'd meet you _here."_

Hermione stared down at him warily. "Don't you live in England...?"

"Colin?!"

Colin blinked and turned around. He waved to someone in the crowd and cupped his mouth. "Dennis, over here!"

Hermione stared as a miniature Colin came running up to them. She blinked as an older version of Colin came after. Closing her eyes briefly, she looked at the three again.

_Yep. Three Colins._

"So, uh-"

"Right, right, this is my little brother, Dennis, who started Hogwarts last year."

Dennis smiled brightly. "Hello!"

"Hey."

Colin patted the older guy on the shoulders, whose smile was so perfect it was sickening. "This is my cousin, Zane, who we're currently visiting at the moment. He's a student at another Magical school, Durmstrang."

"Oh," Hermione said faintly, staring at all of their bright smiles. "Uh. Um, it was great seeing you, but-"

"Wait, don't go yet, tell me where you live! Are Harry and Draco here, too?"

"I- yeah, they are, but not right now-"

"Hey, I think I see Draco!"

Hermione's head whipped around. _"Where?"_ She hissed at Colin.

"Well I'm not sure, but that looks like him, doesn't it?"

_"Ugh,_ leave me alone for _half an hour,_ that's _all_ I ask-"

Colin stared at her. "You two had another fight?"

"The hell do you mean by _another,_ huh? And no, we didn't. But I don't wanna talk right now, so yeah. Do me a favor and don't tell him where I am, yeah?"

"He'll find you anyway!" Colin called after her. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him and pulled her hoodie over her head, intent on disappearing in the crowd. She blanched when she realized she was wearing Draco's hoodie.

_Exactly how many people would be wearing a black hoodie right now? That guy, another guy, three girls, a kid - off track, off track._

She rubbed her hands together, sighing in annoyance when her brain registered them cold.

_What's the inside lined with...?_

Peering inside, she felt grateful when she saw red. Turning the jacket inside-out, she wore it and pulled the hoodie over her head again. She'd been walking for no more than ten minutes when someone pulled her wrist.

"Found you."

Looking up at the sky exasperatedly, she turned around and gave Draco her brightest smile.

_"_Hey_ Dray, _never knew you were coming _here,_ you know, with all the _yelling_ and _stuff,_ and the lack of _common_ _sense_ you seem to have, considering you couldn't leave me alone for just _a little while_." She said, grounding out the last part. Draco rolled his eyes and stared back when she glared.

"Hey Draco!"

Draco blinked and turned around, blanching when he saw Colin. Hermione turned around and ran for it, saluting Colin.

"HERMIO_NE_!"

"CATCH ME, LOSER!"

"HERMIONE, _STOP_ FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, _I _DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

_"MAKE ME!"_

"YOU ASKED FOR IT!"

"SLOW POKE!"

Hermione risked looking behind her and grinned. Draco coming after her - phoning who she assumed was Harry - and the three 'Colins' watching them with amusement. She rolled her eyes when Colin took a photo.

Diving under a stand, she waited for a minute, trying to catch her breath. Spotting Draco's shoes, she ran out from underneath the stand, going the opposite way. She practically _felt_ Draco spot her and ran faster, grinning.

"OI!"

She grinned wider when Draco made the stand owner yell by jumping over his stand. Spinning on her heel, she turned left and ran straight into two redheads with a shriek.

George grinned. "GOT HER!"

"BLOODY- OW, HERMIONE, _OW!"_ Fred winced and cursed, hopping around on a knee and making little kids laugh at him. He scowled when Hermione blew him a raspberry.

"I will _skewer_ her," Fred snapped, rubbing his knee. George ignored him and searched the crowd for anyone he might recognize. He blanched and poked Fred.

"Is that _Creevey?"_

Fred squinted. "Looks like a way older version of him, I'd say."

"...Oh Lord, there are two more Creeveys' behind him."

Colin noticed them and raced over grinning. "I didn't know all of you would be here!" He pouted suddenly. "Why are all of you running, anyway?"

"Uh- we're having a sort of- um-"

_"Crisis_ here."

George rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that."

"Oh. Well, good luck. We're going to have to leave now though, it really is getting late-"

George blinked and turned to Zane._ "Why_ are you _staring_ at me like that?"

Zane looked away casually, trying to control his smirking. George stared at him till something clicked in his brain and his eyes widened. He flushed deeply.

"Wha- you- Merlin, I'm leaving, Fred come with me-"

Fred stared at George with wide eyes as he was pulled away. George's flush had gone up to his ears he looked the most flustered Fred had ever seen him before.

"He was doing what Katie calls 'undressing you with eyes', wasn't he?"

George let out a squeaky choke, his pale skin barely visible now. "Don't-"

Fred's eyes widened even more. "I'm going to fucking _kill_ him."

* * *

Harry and Luna had found a place on the grass where they could watch everyone's ongoings. Luna finished off her popsicle and grinned at Harry, her mouth orange. He snickered.

She half glared. "You have no right to laugh, your mouth's all purple."

"'Scuse me then," He chortled. Luna grinned and turned back to watching the chaos in front of them.

"Hey, where's Draco? I lost him."

Luna pointed towards Hermione, who was frantically looking everywhere. "They're right next to each other and they don't know it."

"That's a first."

"Mhm."

Neither of them knew how, but when Harry leaned back on his hand, it landed on Luna's. Their eyes went wide. Harry retracted his hand but Luna wasn't having any of it.

_"Don't_ move, Harry, my hands are cold anyway."

_Upgrade on nickname; Loony the Liar._

"'Kay."

They sat in silence for a while. Luna turned her head slightly to look at Harry. She blinked at his pink face and looked away, feeling her own cheeks warm up. She glanced at him again.

"Hey Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I like you."

Harry's eyes widened and his head snapped to look at her.

"You-"

"I mean like the way Arabella likes Hermione's father."

Her heart sunk into the ground when he continued staring at her. She stood up and dusted her hands and gave him a smile.

"That's all I wanted to say. I'm going to go after Hermione."

She briskly walked away, praying she wouldn't start crying. She heard Harry scramble to get up.

"Luna, hold on a second-"

She ran.

Two minutes later she was sobbing into Hermione's shirt. Hermione ran her hand through Luna's hair, growing more and more frustrated.

"Luna, I swear if you don't tell me what happened, I'm going to go and-"

"I told Harry I like him," Luna wailed, fisting her hands in Hermione's shirt. "I didn't mean to, it just came out and he looked so shocked and he won't talk to me and I'm-"

"Shut. _Up."_

Luna hiccupped. Hermione's eye twitched and she handed her a crumpled tissue that may or may not have been in her pant pockets for a few months. She sighed when Luna didn't take it.

_"FOUND_ YOU- whoa, _Luna?"_

_"Gee,_ you have like, _the_ best timing _ever,_ Draco."

"What _happened?"_

Hermione told him. Draco stared at Luna in disbelief.

"Why'd you run away?"

"You should've seen how he looked," Luna said mournfully, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"LUNA?!"

Luna's head snapped up. Hermione and Draco smirked.

_"LUNA?!"_

"Come on Luna, he won't bite."

"No."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Harry!"

Luna scrambled to get up, looking like a cornered rabbit. Hermione firmly wrapped a hand around her waist.

Harry came running up to them, eyes glowing and face flushed. Hermione noticed in horror that a few rocks were shaking around their feet.

"Harry, calm down-"

Harry ignored her and ran into Luna and wrapped his arms around her, knocking the breath out of her.

"I like you too, okay? So next time you say that, _don't_ run away. _Okay?"_

Luna stood there frozen, staring past Harry's shoulder. Harry squeezed tighter.

"Okay?!"

Hermione motioned with her arms, telling Luna to hug him back. She did so slowly, her eyes glowing a soft baby blue.

"Okay."

Harry pulled back, a grin on his face, his cheeks red. "Good."

They both flew away from each other at the sound of clapping. They turned around to see the twins, Draco, Hermione, Colin, Dennis, Zane, Remus and Severus clapping. Severus wiped away a nonexistent tear from his eye.

"Ah, my boy growing up at last." He eyed Harry and Luna's red faces. Harry looked utterly mortified. "Now for the moment of truth. She said it first, didn't she?"

"...Shut up."

* * *

**DONE AT LAST! PHEW! **

**This chapter is the longest of this story so far. I've had so many feelings about this chapter, that I don't even know anymore. Anyway, I seriously hope it was worth writing such a long chapter. I'd initially thought about writing a Dramione scene, but as you can obviously see, I didn't. Go figure. ㈶3**

**I couldn't stop writing either; this was supposed to be waaaay shorter than it is right now, but my fingers wouldn't stop. They still don't hurt. ㈷1**

**Right, its just past eleven right now, and I still don't have any plans for sleeping. Blame goes on the Stucky ship. Imma go read more fics.**

**Night. **


	18. Chapter 18

**(Edited)**

**Haaaaaaayyyyyy.** **No words for this chappie. I feel as negative as fuck right now. Not sure why. ._.**

**Disclaimer: See chapter 2. And those flirty lines y'all are gonna see? They're not mine. I copied them from BuzzFeed, and I dunno who made them. So thanks to whoever did and sorry for using them without permission. *Sheepish laugh***

* * *

_**Directly, or indirectly, everything we write is for someone - Unknown**_

* * *

It'd taken Hermione a whole two weeks to forgive her father. In said weeks, she nearly drove Dan crazy by fake-smiling, fake-laughing, fake-happiness - overall, being utterly fake to him.

It didn't help that almost no one but Remus felt sorry for him, either.

In the end, Hermione had only forgiven him when he bought the house next to Arabella's. As soon as they heard the neighbors were moving out, Hermione confronted Dan and told him to buy the house or she'd never forgive him.

Truthfully, though? He'd only bought it because Remus and Severus had agreed they'd pitch in, since Severus needed a place to stay anyway.

So now Dan, Arabella, Hermione and the rest of the kids were staying at Arabella's house, while the rest of the adults - Severus, Remus, Sirius, and Narcissa - who'd pop in sometimes - stayed next door.

Arabella had found herself most thankful for the extra house. All in all, things had been going smoothly for the past month.

_4 weeks till we go back to school._

Hermione glanced up from her book again to where Luna and Harry sat with an awkward distance between them. One would occasionally glance at the other and then turn away with a furious blush when their eyes met. Eyes dropping back to the book in amusement, she read a few more lines.

_Just like Werewolves, full-blooded Veelas are incredibly rare. They can be very similar in nature, being protective of their mates and blood, possessive of their belongings, having heightened senses, etc.. The most common difference is the Veela's ability to send off lust waves – they are rather much like beacons that are used in the Muggle world (see below)._

She glanced up at Draco when he snorted at something in his book. Sirius had come over to Arabella's - Dan had become seriously annoyed when he found Arabella knew so many males - and had rejoiced at Luna and Harry's confessions, and had given Harry _Bachelor's Guide to Wooing Women._

The title had been so lame, Severus himself had hid it in a cupboard. Which they'd gotten out for Harry, but Draco ended up going through it instead.

"'If you were a Dementor, I'd become a criminal just to get your kiss,'" Draco snickered in amusement, reading from the book. Hermione grinned and looked at Luna and Harry again. She watched with a lazy grin as Harry averted his eyes away from Luna. Luna got up suddenly and fled to the kitchen, asking Arabella in a flustered voice if she could help. Hermione looked back at her book and shut it, deciding to read it later. She tilted her head, watching Luna move around in the kitchen through the open doorway.

A grin slowly spread on her face. "My name may not be Luna, but I sure know how to Lovegood."

Draco smirked and shut his book, looking gleeful. He faced Hermione across the table.

"I must have had some Felix Felicis, because I think I'm about to get lucky."

"Can I just Slytherin to bed with you?"

Harry stared at them, looking utterly grossed out. "Guys, shut _up."_

Draco ignored him, grinning wider. "Your smile's like Expelliarmus - simple but disarming."

Arabella came in to the living room, setting a dish of pasta on the table. "How _sweet,_ Draco."

Harry shook his head violently and covered his ears. "No. _No,_ Bella, they're going to get worse." Arabella looked at Draco and Hermione in amusement.

"Go on, then."

Harry ducked his head.

"Did you survive Avada Kedavra? 'Cause you're drop dead gorgeous."

Arabella slowly blinked.

"Kids these days can be so smooth," they heard her say to Dan when she walked back into the kitchen. "Honestly."

The three turned at the sound of someone wolf-whistling. Sirius grinned at them. He was wearing Muggle-clothing, they noted. Remus's, no less.

"Got through the window, no need to worry. Where Snivellus was showering in fact, so no one saw me." He sat down at the head of the table when Harry grinned, and he turned to Hermione and Draco with twinkling grey eyes.

"By all means, continue."

Harry's grin fell and he moaned pitifully. "Uncle, _no."_

Draco turned back to Hermione just as Luna came in with the plates. "If I were a Seeker and you a Snitch, would you let me catch you?"

Sirius nodded in approval. Hermione continued.

"I'm not an Animagus, but sometimes I can be a real animal."

Sirius ladled some pasta in his plate with a smirk.

"I need a pensieve because my head is full of thoughts with you."

Sirius made a face. "Far too sweet." He was ignored.

"If you were a basilisk, I wouldn't mind dying just to look in your eyes."

Harry looked at them in disbelief. "Draco, that's not even _funny."_

"Right, right, sorry."

Hermione looked thoughtful as Remus came down the stairs, combing his hair. He looked at Sirius with a bemused look.

"Next time you need clothes, _tell_ me."

"Yessir."

"Are you a Golden Snitch? 'Cause I've been searching for you my whole life."

Draco frowned slightly and reaching for a plate. "That's two Snitch ones already. I'm just like Oliver Wood - a keeper."

Hermione snorted. "That's three Quidditch ones, then. I don't need the Mirror of Erised to know you're everything I desire."

_Which actually may be the truth, by the way._

Narcissa came in through the floo, but for once Draco didn't notice her. "Did you use Relashio? 'Cause I see sparks between us." Narcissa raised an eyebrow.

"So you finally noticed, hm?"

Draco winced. Turning around, he frowned at his mother.

"Mother, I'm going to try and pretend I didn't hear what you said, alright?"

"...You didn't, then." Narcissa sighed, pulling off her heels. "Alright then. Lucius sends his love."

Draco stared at her. "Really?"

"No, I'm just suger-coating his hello."

Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to the table. "Thought so."

Hermione shoved some pasta into her mouth. "You can have the Portkey to my heart?"

Dan stopped to halt on his way back to the kitchen. _"Who_ can?"

She let her head drop to the table. "_No_body."

Dan looked like he was going to say more, but kept quiet at a sharp look from Arabella. Harry snickered but quickly shut up when Dan narrowed his eyes at him.

Severus stomped down the stairs looking haggard. He sneered at Sirius, noticing Remus's clothes on him. Remus looked at him with a sheepish look, trying to convey with his hands that it wasn't his fault.

"Next time," He hissed through his teeth at Sirius while buttoning up his shirt, "Wear some clothes and use someone _else's_ window."

Sirius waved his hand lazily. "Shut up, you enjoyed the view."

Severus's hands stopped at the third last button. His fists shaking with fury and frustration, he walked to Sirius's chair and hit him on the head. Hard. Sirius cursed and turned around with narrowed eyes, only to have his jaw drop at Severus's flushed face and narrowed eyes. Sirius reached out and grabbed Severus's wet locks and pulled him down.

Arabella hurriedly motioned to Luna to get the camera going.

"The fuck happened to your nose?"

Severus looked at him surprised. He reached a hand out to cup Sirius's jaw, slowly reaching for the back of his neck and leaning his face closer to the wide-eyed man's. Sirius loosened his grip on Snape's forelocks and parted his lips unconsciously.

Severus tangled a hand in Sirius's hair and yanked.

"Do not _fucking_ touch a _person_ without their _permission."_ sneered Severus. _"Dog."_ His eyes glinted with satisfaction as he watched Sirius scowl and rub his head where Severus pulled.

For once in his life, Sirius found being called a dog insulting.

"Fuck you."

Severus rolled his eyes and took a seat opposite from him. Arabella mentally thanked Remus for increasing the length of the table and duplicating the chairs, or she was sure they'd all be in World War III right now.

"Yes, I'm sure you want to."

Sirius's eye twitched. "Yeah, 'cause I've been just _whomping _my_ willow_ over you."

Harry and Draco turned around to make sure Arabella and Narcissa were in the kitchen and had not heard. Severus's eyes narrowed again.

"Immature."

Remus coughed and tapped the table to get their attention. When that didn't work, he reached out and pulled both of their ears and proceeded to stare them down. "That is _enough._ Not only are you taking advantage of your host being absent, there are also children here. Do you understand?"

He tugged harder until they let out a grumbled out a yes. He released them as soon as Narcissa and Arabella walked out of the kitchen with Luna.

"Good."

Luna perked up. "Oh, and Madam Pomfrey was the one who fixed his nose. She said he had a ridiculous amount of curses in it, and she pulled them all out."

"...Oh."

Narcissa looked at Sirius slyly. "He looks better, doesn't he?"

"Better than looking like an old man, yeah."

He yelped when a fork was thrown at his head.

* * *

_"Preparations, Pettigrew."_

"M-my Lord. L-Lucius Malfoy is still resisting, my Lord, but the Crabbes' and Goyles' have p-pledged their loyalties to you, my Lord."

_"And?"_

"My Lord, Macnair is also still faithful. W-we have gained some - un-unexpected allies. I have yet to know who, b-but they sent this letter-" the hand with the paper trembled, "to the Goyles'."

There was silence for a few seconds. Then;

_"What does it say?"_

"T-they have a - a _preposition,_ my Lord. T-they say that- that they - they are doing _experiments,_ my Lord."

The voice tsked, seeming like it was running out of patience. _"Such_ as?"

"T-they haven't said - but it may strengthen-"

_"Are they implying I am_ weak?" The voice hissed._ "And_ you,_ Wormtail,_ agree?"

"O-of course not, m-my Lord, of course not-"

_"Where is Lestrange?"_ The voice snarled. Peter swallowed.

"They - both of them - are still in A-a-azkaban, m-my Lord."

_"Crouch?"_

"H-he as w-well."

_"...As well, Peter?"_ Peter's eyes widened at the softness of the voice.

"M-m-my L-L-ord."

There was a soft hissing for a while. Peter startled at the amount of sweat dripping off his face.

_"Get them out."_

Peter's jaw dropped. "M-my Lord?"

_"I will not repeat myself, Pettigrew. Leave."_

"Y-yes, yes, of course, my Lord..."

Quickly leaving the rundown cottage, he gulped in some air, turned into his Animagus form and set out for a familiar mansion.

* * *

_**Finally**_** I'm **_**done.**_

**:}**


	19. Chapter 19

**(Edited)**

**Thanks for great feedback, for still sticking with this story, even though I'm a shitty author and all. Woot.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Although, I'd really rather own Hermione or Sirius, but eh.**

* * *

_**I'm a writer. Therefore, I am not sane - Unknown**_

* * *

Arabella stared at the empty fridge moodily. Sighing, she closed the fridge and glanced down at her now slightly round tummy. Patting it with a small smile, she went back to the couch and turned the TV on again.

Her mobile rang after a few minutes.

Glancing at the caller ID, she answered the call and kept silent.

_"Bella?"_

_"Bella."_

_"Arabella, this isn't funny."_

_"Bella!"_

Arabella snickered. "Yes, Dan, I'm perfectly fine. What's up?"

_"Hilarious. I needed to ask if we have bread."_

Arabella walked back to the fridge, not remembering despite having just opened it a few minutes ago.

"Uh, no. And we need ice cream. Chocolate. If you can find the triple cho-"

_"Triple chocolate ice cream, got it. You told me three times before I left the house, remember?"_

"Shut up, it's your baby I'm carrying, I deserve at least chocolate ice cream."

_"Yeah, yeah, I know."_

"That's all?"

_"Yep."_

"See ya then."

Putting her mobile down, she stared at the fridge a bit longer, desperately wishing something would magically appear. Closing it with another sigh, she trudged back to her spot on the couch.

It'd been an hour since Severus and Sirius (who has miraculously agreed to go together) had left with the kids for a walk, and half an hour since Remus and Dan had left to grocery shop. Since then, Arabella had pretty much moped around. She regretted not going with the kids for a walk now.

_Oh, to hell with it all, I'll just go on a walk myself._

Just as she was tying her shoelaces, her phone rang again. She blinked in surprise as she recognized whose name it was.

"Hey Severus, is-"

"THE KIDS ARE GONE!"

_Wait, that's Sirius, not Sev- hold it what-_

_"What?"_ She hissed in disbelief, holding the phone away from her as if it were playing a trick on her. "How!?"

_"I don't know, I just went to the bathroom, left Snape with the brats, I come out and I see him going everywhere like a mad man,"_ Sirius rambled into the phone, completely on edge_, "And then he makes up this shit saying he turned around for a minute, heard a bang, turned back to the kids only to see them disappear with some people in green flash and-"_

Arabella swallowed. "Is Severus fine?"

_"No, he's bleeding but he says he's fine, so-"_

"Take him to the hospital, I'll call Dan right-"

_"But he says-"_

"SIRIUS BLACK, TAKE HIM TO THE HOSPITAL, NO MATTER HOW _'FINE'_ HE SAYS HE IS, DO YOU HEAR?"

_"But-"_

"SIRIUS!"

_"Okay, Okay! What about the kids?"_

"I'll call Dan, now _go!"_

Feeling a sudden dizziness, she quickly called Dan.

_"Bella?"_

"Sirius just called, the kids are missing, Severus is hurt, I told Sirius to take him to the hospital, Dan-"

She heard a sharp intake of air. _"Okay, we'll be over soon, don't panic okay, just - just sit down, Arabella, we're coming."_

Arabella swallowed, and sat plopped down on the sofa, still dizzy.

"Okay. Stay on the phone, I think I'm gonna be sick."

_"I'm here."_

* * *

Harry was the first to wake up. At first he thought he might be in the hospital, since the ceiling was uncannily white, but then he noticed odd artifacts that hung from the walls.

He reached up to rub his eyes and startled when his arms didn't move. Looking down at his body, he saw himself strapped to a table covered in various stains. He tried looking around, but as his head was strapped down too, so he couldn't make out much. Craning his head around as much as he could, he managed to spot two more tables on either side of him, unfortunately only able to see the legs of who were strapped on. He blinked when he saw a sheet that reached their legs. Harry blanched.

_Oh God._

Glancing down at his body, he saw a white sheet covering him.

_I'm freaking naked. My __**butt**__ is on a rock hard table. Fabulous._

He made a face. "Yuck."

No sound came out. Instead, he let out an embarrassing squeak. He clamped his mouth shut. Glancing at the legs on the tables on either side of him, he racked his brain on how he would know who it is.

_Well, Luna's skin is rather white-ish, so not that one,_ He thought, scrutinizing the legs on his left. Turning to the ones on his right, his mind blanked.

_Those are too dark to be Luna's, too._

Suddenly panicky all of a sudden, he struggled against the straps that held him down. After a few minutes' struggle, he stopped, only to feel a burst of anger and start again.

This went on for a few minutes.

"Harry?"

He froze.

"Luna?" He cleared his throat when his voice squeaked again. "That you?"

"Yes."

Harry craned his neck around. "Where _are_ you?"

"I'm behind you - no, don't do that, you'll break your neck."

He relaxed on the table. As much as one could possibly relax on wood, that is.

"Ugh, this is so uncomfortable." He complained. "You okay, Luna?"

"I think so. I'd come over there, but I'm stuck in a cage."

"You mean you're not stuck on a table?"

"Yes. Hermione's on the second table on your left, Draco's on your right, by the way."

"Thanks. Did you see anyone?"

"Not so far, and it's been a long time. I haven't seen Fred and George, either. If I'm right," Luna glanced at her strange watch, "Then we've been here for about nearly two hours now."

Harry squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember what happened.

"We were walking with Dad and Sirius, Sirius went to the bathroom - what happened after that?"

"I'm not sure, but I think I remember being apparated. After that, I woke up in a cage." Then, in a fascinated voice, "This is the first time I've seen someone actually acknowledge a human as an animal, part of the mammals kingdom, and actually put them in a cage. Of course, I might be wrong, but there _is_ a possibility that they may have, because usually, humans put every living creature in cages, except for their same species. It's very surprising."

"That's nice."

"Is it?"

"No, I'm stupified at how un-freaked out you seem."

"Oh. I have a feeling it's because of the artifacts here. They remind me of Daddy."

Harry glanced at the person's legs on his right. "Hey, you said Hermione's on the second table to my right? Who's next to me, then?"

"I'm not particularly sure, but to me it looked like Lavender Brown."

"...Who's that?"

"She's from Gryffindor."

"Right." He blinked. "From _Hogwarts?"_

Luna looked around again. "There seems to be a lot of people from Hogwarts here, actually. Next to Draco I think is Dean Thomas. Wonder why they're here."

Harry rolled his eyes, amused, despite the situation. "Gee, Luna, me too."

"Harry?"

Harry concentrated on feeling around the straps, hoping there might be a way to break out of them. "Hm?"

"Play dead. Someone's coming."

Harry's pulse started up rapidly as he heard footsteps. He obediently lay still. The footsteps stopped a few feet away from him. To Harry, it seemed near where Luna's voice had come from, and he fought hard to not move.

The feet padded around softly, stopping every now and then. Harry tensed slightly when the footsteps stopped near him. A finger prodded his cheek, and his eye twitched. Harry heard a chuckle and cursed himself.

"Awake, are you?"

_It's a guy._

Harry's brow furrowed.

_His voice sounds familiar._

Harry wasn't sure why he'd done it, but he let out a loud snore. The man was eerily silent. Then he barked out a laugh.

Harry cracked an eye open. He recognized a mop of black hair first. His eyes flew open.

"Sirius?"

The man blinked and took a step back, his eyes looking haunted.

"No." He said in guarded voice. "It's Regulus. I'm his younger brother."

* * *

Severus scowled for the umpteenth time.

"Arabella, I am completely fine, _please_ stop worrying. You're turning _my_ hair grey."

Arabella sniffed daintily. "You broke a rib, which punctured a lung, you weren't taken to the hospital since this doofus," She threw a dirty look at where Sirius had been before he'd apparated, "Believed the crap about you saying you were fine. And _then, _I arrive at the hospital, only to have the doctors tell me that you'll have to stay for a month. Only reason you're getting out is 'cause I checked you out myself-"

"_Because_ I healed myself. I'm fine now, so I really don't-" Severus stopped midway and tried not to wince at Arabella's glare.

"I could take you back inside that ward just as quick as I've gotten you out, you hear me Severus?"

"Loud and clear." Severus muttered.

"Good."

Severus mimicked her crossly in his mind. Arabella took no notice. Partly glad she hasn't started crying again, he quietly followed her.

Dan and Sirius were waiting for them at home. The frowns on their faces sank their hearts.

"They haven't been found, have they?"

The lack of response was enough for them. Severus leaned against the doorway as Arabella sat down on a chair and furiously wiped her eyes.

"I _hate_ pregnancy hormones," she moaned, "This is what, the third time I'm crying?"

"Fifth," Severus supplied helpfully.

A loud bang later, Remus appeared in front of them. His hair was matted on his forehead and he looked pained. Sirius immediately stood up, but Remus waved him back down.

Something clicked in Severus' brain at Sirius' actions. Severus mutely handed Remus a bottle of water, who took it gratefully. Remus sighed when he finished emptying the bottle.

"Okay, so we have no idea who took the kids-"

"We?" Dan interrupted.

"The, uh, let's just say the magical police."

"Yeah, okay."

"Right, so Kingsley-"

"A friend of theirs." Severus supplied for Dan, who nodded.

"-is getting together a small team. He doesn't want this out in public yet, since first off, we have no idea who's behind this, and Muggles might get suspicious."

They all sent Remus questioning looks. He shrugged.

"Kingsley's paranoid."

Sirius managed a grin. "I'm telling him you said that."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"When will they get he-"

Arabella's fireplace glowed, and the flames turned green. A person stumbled out, falling on their behind. The slightly short figure grimaced.

"_Dam_mit."

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Did Kingsley send you?" He asked, helping the woman up. She rolled her eyes.

"No, Donkey Kong did."

"Hilarious, Dora."

The woman slowly turned around to face whoever called her that, her hair a brilliant shade of red. She blinked when she spotted Severus, her hair draining back to a bright pink.

She grinned at him while he stared back amusedly at her. Before anyone could ask, she dusted her jeans and held out a hand to Remus.

"I'm Tonks. Here to help with the missing kids, Kingsley said."

Remus took her hand cautiously. "I'm Remus."

"You're cute. And before you ask, yes, the pink hair's natural."

* * *

**Btw, I turned 16 guys. According to medieval terms, I am an official lady now. Huzzah -_-**

**Well, technically, it was in May, since that's when I wrote this chapter, but eh.  
**


	20. Chapter 20

**(Edited)**

**Disclaimer: I own HP.**

* * *

_**T**__**he trouble with writing is that it's literally always easier to just lie facedown on your floor and make inarticulate noises - idiopathicsmile **_**(tumblr)**

* * *

Sirius sat next to Arabella, massaging his temples.

"I need a drink." He muttered. "D'you have anything?"

Arabella scratched her arm absently. "Yeah, try the cabinets in the kitchen."

Sirius dragged himself there.

Dan, Remus and Severus had gone with Tonks to the place where the kids had been kidnapped, hoping to catch a trail of anything that might help them find the kids so they could trace it. Dan had considered going to the police in case they might notice something, but Tonks had decided against it, saying it'd be too risky.

Arabella stared longingly at the bottle that Sirius had set down on her coffee table. Sirius poured a glass for himself, sending a questioning look to Arabella. She shook her head, not wanting to risk anything at the moment. Swiping her thumb back and forth on her mobile screen, she anxiously waited for another message.

She nearly dropped her phone when it let out a loud beep, and she heard Sirius curse as he dropped the bottle in surprise.

_stil no trace of em. v found sumthin tht mite help us track em but werent so sure. comin bak soon._

Sirius squinted at the screen, completely lost.

"What the fuck does that even say?" He brought his face closer to the mobile. "Does that spell '_something'?"_

Arabella managed a tiny grin. "It's called typing in short form. Doesn't take as long to type."

Sirius wrinkled his nose. "All that beauty of grammar gone. Disgusting."

Arabella was about to retort something about her letting him stay at her house, so he had no right to diss her boyfriend, when her mobile let out another beep. Sirius didn't bother reading it this time.

_Remus says 2 keep all alcohol bvrges away frm srius_

Sirius _did_ however catch 'Remus' and gave Arabella a bemused look.

"He can spell _Remus_ fine?"

She grinned again and just shrugged, snatching the alcohol from the coffee table.

"He says to not give you any more of _this,_" She said, swirling the liquid inside the bottle. "So I'm not gonna risk whatever you do when you're overly drunk."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't do _anything. _Really."

"Sure."

Sirius gave her a beseeching look. Arabella quirked an eyebrow.

"Sirius, I live with three teenagers. You don't honestly think that's going to work?"

He glared. He slipped a hair tie off his wrist and tied his curly hair back.

"I'm going to the garage, then."

Arabella smiled. "Alright."

He stood up, stretching his arms over his head and walking out, muttering something that Arabella made out to be something that involved 'pregnant', 'cranky' and 'hormones'.

She threw a couch cushion at him, and got a sheepish look in return.

* * *

Harry had been staring at the ceiling since the stranger who'd claimed to be Sirius' brother had left the room. Luna had tried to get his attention by calling out his name for the whole past half hour, but hadn't gotten any response.

Luna pressed her lips together, annoyance creeping up on her. It was bad enough she didn't like small spaces. She sighed.

"Harry?"

Still no response. Her eye twitched.

Not really thinking, she brought her face close to the bars in front of her and breathed out of her mouth. Loudly and hard. Harry's table creaked and skidded forward a few inches.

Harry squeaked.

_"Luna?"_

She blinked in surprise. "I didn't know I could do that."

"That was _you_?" Came Harry's indignant voice.

"I _would_ say sorry, but you weren't listening."

Harry was silent again. Luna was thinking about calling him out again when he spoke up.

"Luna, is there a lock on the cage?"

Luna blinked and looked over the bars.

"I can't see one."

"Are you sitting on the floor of the cage or sitting on bars? Like, is it bars all around?"

"Bars all around - oh, there it is. The lock's at the bottom."

"Can you open it?"

"How?"

"You tell me."

"...Oh."

Luna swallowed and tried to push away her dislike for her _'powers'_, as Harry insisted on calling them and tried to concentrate on the air around her. Her face went blank.

"Harry, I don't know how to do this. I can feel the air, but-"

"Try pushing the air into the lock, Luna. Like, use it as a concentration point. Focus on it."

"Okay." Luna took in a breath. "Right, okay."

She tried again, concentrating on the air, gathering it again. Looking solely at the golden lock, she slowly pushed the concentrated air inside. She held it like, noticing she felt warmer than she had a minute ago.

Luna could barely hear Harry call her. She tried to listen, only to have some of the concentrated air slip away, so she blocked Harry out completely. She pushed harder, suddenly feeling desperate and very much wanting to get out of the cage, when there was _finally_, a loud _click._

She smiled in triumph and sat back.

"I opened..."

Luna winced as she felt a steady pulse of pain from her head.

"...it."

She screwed her eyes shut and let her head fall onto the bars

"Luna?"

Predicting that she probably would've passed out due to the lack of practice or control she had - he'd passed out quite a couple of times when exercising himself - Harry tried to make himself as comfortable as he could against the table he was _still_ strapped on.

He blew some of his hair away from his eyes.

"Well at least ya opened the lock."

_She said the lock had been underneath her. How is she gonna get the door to open?_

"Great."

* * *

Severus paced restlessly in front of Remus. Remus pulled a few strands of grass from his sitting position next to a tree. Tonks looked up as Dan walked towards them, holding lunch. Dan wordlessly passed the food around.

Severus didn't sit down, seeming content to keep pacing.

"What if we just try the normal police?" Dan finally suggested tiredly.

Tonks tilted her head. "How would they be able to help?"

"I don't know, it's just-" He swallowed his food down, "- they use dogs and have a way of tracking people with different stuff. We have their clothes, why don't we let dogs trace them?"

"Why don't we just use Sirius for that?"

Remus grimaced. "Could we not?"

Dan nodded. "I'm with Remus."

Tonks shrugged. "I'll have to ask for permission, 'cause we only try the normal police when we're desperate."

Dan scowled. "_I'm _desperate."

"Yeah, well, we can't just go up to them like that, there've been other cases too-"

They all whipped their heads towards the sound of a strangled cry, just realizing that they couldn't see Severus.

"Severus?"

They scrambled to their feet, Tonks and Remus taking out their wands. They heard muffled curses from between the trees, and Tonks ran towards a green flash, Dan running for the car.

Remus ran after Tonks at full speed after he'd made sure Dan had gotten into his car, and was now standing in the middle of trees, facing Tonks, a bloody Severus, and an equally bloodied up stranger. With a wand in his hand.

Severus was clutching his side, looking like he was trying to not look like he was in pain. Which he was clearly failing at, due to the amount of blood staining his pristine _white_ shirt.

Honestly, it was surprising in itself that he was still on his feet.

Severus's attacker watched the three of them warily from a few feet away. After a few long seconds, the man ran towards Severus, moving faster than anyone Remus had seen before. Severus raised his wand in a half-hearted attempt to protect himself, only to have the attacker knee his already broken ribs, resulting in another strangled cry.

The man took hold of Severus's arm in a firm grip, causing Severus to scowl fiercely. Severus threw something away from himself, the same time the other man flashed Remus and Tonks a mean grin and threw a circular object towards them and disappeared with a _bang._

The circular object, of course, had to be a smoke bomb. Which, apparently, they couldn't do anything about.

Trying to scramble through the smoke, they reached the place where Severus and his attacker had been, knowing they wouldn't see them. Remus grimaced at the drops and stains of blood around the area. Tonks furiously scanned the area.

"Where did he throw it? Sev threw something, we have to find it - aw, bloody Merlin, _no."_

"What happened, what-"

"He threw wands, Severus threw wands, he got 2 wands off of that guy - at least that's all _I_ can find right now - and I stepped on one and now it's broken, _kill_ me."

Remus scrambled to gather the broken pieces of the unfortunate wand. "Trace it! You can trace it, right?"

Tonks inhaled sharply. "Of _course_ I can trace it, what do you take me f-"

Remus shoved both the wands in her hands, broken and intact.

"Trace them first, and then we'll decide what you really are, deal?"

_"Fine."_

* * *

**This chapter is a bit shorter, as I've had a whole lot of new shit going on, with what secrets being revealed and well I'm not going into that.**

**I couldn't stop laughing at the 'took out their wands' part.**

**And then again at the 'a wand in his hand' part.**

**I **_**could've**_** written **_**magic stick**_** instead, but then I'd've never been able to finish this chapter.**

**Because, you know.**

**Somebody kill me.**

_**Any**_**way.**

**Thanks go to ****HarryPMerlin**** and ****AliceEnchanted****.**


	21. Chapter 21

Get started on the friggin chapter dude

I mean it

Dude

Fuck you man. Well technically that's me and I can't do that - or can I - but anyway

START ALREADY GODDAMMIT YOU HAVE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO WANT TO READ THIS SHIT NO MATTER HOW LESS THERE ARE

I give up

Okay starting

Here we go

* * *

**IMPORTANT: Did you guys know that Remus and Tonks had like a 12-13 year difference between them in the original series? So I need to make Tonks a bit older due to reasons and her relations and the like. So she'll be like, about 25 while the other adults are near 30 or so.**

**I mentioned she and the marauders were in their twenties in the beginning, but obviously since a few years have passed, they're all more or so 30 now.**

**Oh, and Bellatrix is about 8 years older than Sirius, and I'm keeping it that way. So like, 38 or so.**

**Gah, if anyone wants everyone's ages or something, tell me and I'll add 'em in the next chapter.**

**Yeah, I think that's it, thanks.**

**Disclaimer: Blah blah Potter blah not blah blah blah mine blergh.**

* * *

_**"I don't remember deciding to become a writer. You decide to become a dentist or a postman. For me, writing is like being gay. You finally admit this is who you are, you come out and hope no one runs away." - Mark Haddon**_

* * *

Tonks worked furiously on the wands from the table, while Remus and Dan updated Arabella and Sirius on what had in just the past ten minutes.

"Okay, so correct me if I'm wrong, but Severus was kidnapped-"

"Adultnapped." Dan corrected.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me Dan, _how_ did you guys manage to let the guy take Severus away?" Arabella's voice sounded disastrously worried, panicky and a bit angry. Even Tonks paused in her work for a second, concerned about Arabella's health.

"Relax, Raven. Sev can take care of himself." Tonks said, her hands going back to do whatever she was doing to the wands. "He's been taking care of himself since school. Isn't that right, Black?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

Tonks snorted. "I'll bet."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "What would you know about him anyway?"

She spared him a glance. "More than you know. Now shut up, I need to concentrate, and your stupid vocals aren't helping."

_"You_ started." He muttered.

Sirius crossed his arms and sank back into the armchair, looking bewildered and cross. Remus ruffled his hair, barely noticing when Sirius leaned into his touch. He gave Dan a questioning look when he saw he was staring at them weirdly. He noticed even Arabella's lips were parted in surprise.

"What?" Remus asked, checking over himself to see if he had blood somewhere on his figure.

Dan's eye twitched rapidly as he and Arabella looked at each other, then back at Remus and Sirius. Arabella muttered a soft '_oh'_ and shut her mouth. Dan shook his head in disbelief and stalked towards the kitchen, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"_What? _Do I have blood on my face or something?"

Arabella stood up, blinking as though confused and walked towards the table to sit with Tonks.

"No. It's nothing. I just got a bit confused about something, that's all."

Remus stared at her. "Okay?"

"Really, don't worry."

Remus mentally shrugged and went upstairs to change. He missed the look Arabella gave Sirius, who had sunk as deep as possible into the armchair, red in the face.

Arabella waited for five seconds until she was sure Remus was out of earshot before she whipped around to face Sirius fully.

"Sirius. _Two _words."

Sirius winced, wishing the couch would swallow him whole. Arabella stared at him, slightly fascinated that it was actually possible for him to grow redder than he already was.

"_Hell _no."

Sirius had officially become a part of the couch.

* * *

The woman next to the tree forced her eyes away in disgust when Peter changed back to his human form. Peter hurriedly put on his clothes, unsure of how to approach her and the unconscious man beside her. He opted to just sit a few feet away from them, feeling safe knowing neither of them could undo the ropes that bound them to the tree.

Peter fiddled with his wand as he contemplated on what to do now. He tilted his head as he took in the man and woman's haggard appearances, the woman still refusing to look at him. His eyes went over their sunken eyes, blade-sharp cheekbones, barely hanging clothes, dirty skin, black hair speckled with grey, thin limbs - Peter could go on and on about how horrible they looked.

The woman spared him a glance after a few minutes, looking a bit comforted knowing he was wearing clothes now. She looked at the man slumped against her, a look of relief flashing on her face. She grabbed the man's hand before glancing back at Peter.

"Surely you brought us something, Pettigrew." She said in a scratchy and slurred voice. "Don't think I haven't noticed what's behind that tree."

Peter's eye twitched. "Fresh out of Azkaban and already giving orders, Bellatrix?"

_"Don't_ call me that."

He didn't need to be told twice, knowing he'd just dig himself a deeper hole. He got up and spread blankets over the couple, ignoring the sudden impulse he had to just strangle them both instead. Peter ignored the warning look the woman gave him, as if she knew what he was thinking.

Bellatrix glared at the ropes holding her and her husband to the tree.

"What are these for?" Her voice was long gone, and it was like she was forcing air out of her lungs to make sure Peter heard her. Peter mentally shook his head.

_Her pride didn't take much of a beating in that hell hole. Too bad._

"To make sure neither of you decide to run at the last moment or end up wandering around, out of your minds. Seems like your intelligence was dampened in there, at least."

To his surprise, Bellatrix did nothing but glare at him. She threaded her fingers through her husband's. Peter set to make another portkey while he still had some energy.

"Rabastan?"

Peter blinked. "What?"

"What happened to Rabastan?"

"He's dead."

Bellatrix's lips formed a sneer. "Rodolphus?"

He wanted to ask why she was asking about her husband when he was right there. About to ask her, he caught the desperate look in her eye. Bellatrix must have noticed, as she quickly schooled her features. Peter decided not to push.

"Right next to you."

Her shoulders sagged and her grip on Rodolphus's hand tightened.

"Barty?"

Peter didn't bother looking at her, focusing solely on creating the portkey.

"Which?" He asked, even though he knew. Peter could have sworn he heard Bellatrix grit her teeth from where he was sitting.

_"Junior."_ She ground out.

"He's already out. His parents came to see him. Apparently, his mother took his place since she was dying. Which is strange, because this is the first time I heard of it. You would think he'd go straight to the Dark Lord."

Bellatrix's eyes narrowed. "How do you know this if you haven't seen him yet?"

Peter decided he was getting tired of her hoarse voice, and was fervently hoping she'd stop talking soon. Hopefully pass out due to exertion.

"His mother was still alive in there."

"And Dolohov?"

"My orders were to get the Lestrange family out of there," Peter snapped. "If you're so worried, you can ask the Dark Lord for permission to go get them yourself!"

Peter felt satisfaction when Bellatrix visibly shrunk back at the idea of going back to Azkaban. He stood up and walked away a bit, calling over his shoulder that he was going to run some tests with the portkey and try to figure out where they were.

A few minutes later, he found himself near the end of the forest, able to see the road ahead. His nostrils flared as he greedily inhaled the cleaner air. Once again, he settled down to work on the portkey, making sure he was out of sight, _and_ would still be able to hear Bellatrix.

A few minutes passed in silence, and suspicion crept up on Peter, who all too much knew his luck with - well, everything. So of course, when he heard Bellatrix yell hoarsely for him, he wasn't all too surprised.

What _did_ surprise him was being stunned and staring into the shocked face of one of his ex-best friends. Peter would've tried to scramble back if he wasn't paralyzed. He watched as the familiar sandy haired man whipped out a Muggle device from one of his pockets, his thumbs flying across it while Bellatrix stared at Remus with such deep hatred, even Peter winced. Remus, however, looked at them all with a hard, unwavering gaze, eyes flickering back and forth between them and the device in his hands.

"Sirius?" Remus spoke into the device, taking pleasure in how Peter sent him a fearful look. "No, I did _not_ find any other wands. No, nothing else either. Listen, you need to get over here fast, and _try_ not to freak out."

Remus said a few more words and shoved the strange device back into his pocket. He paced a bit, never once looking away from the three of them. One hand held his wand, looking like it was itching to point at either or all of them and let out a torrent of curses. It didn't take long for Remus to give in, and he hit Peter with two more stuns. He then sank into the dirty leaves and raked his hands through his hair, muttering to himself.

"This is _not_ going to end well."

_"Scum."_ Bellatrix hissed.

Remus Silencio-ed her.

* * *

Somewhere in another continent, Severus firmly held his head high while he was dragged to where ever it was these people were taking him.

He was trying his best not to scoff at their overrated attempt to spook him by wearing black robes and covering their faces. He'd decided he'd try not to speak for the time being. Until the urge for sarcastic comebacks became too much to bear, anyway.

Which was becoming tougher by the minute, as he'd already refrained himself from commenting about one of their nails, which were hideously cracked and dirty, and seemed somewhat _sharp._ And not in the woman's talons way, either.

They were leading him through some type of corridor, having passed several rooms already, all of which had huge windows, clearly for watching the inner workings of the rooms. A few rooms had been empty, some were filled with boxes, packed, opened and unpacked, but most of the rooms Severus had passed were filled with machines.

The machines confused Severus to the point where he had started to worried, since he knew these people were Wizards or were associated with them, and a majority of the Magical society didn't care about machines. Or anything very Muggle-ish. Unless they were being led by Muggles, and he doubted that greatly.

Wizards had too much pride - himself as well, he admitted - to be led by people without Magic.

Severus idly wondered who would want so many rooms. _And_ have a corridor so long. Granted, he did understand a _bit, _seeing all the machines and boxes, but still. He must've passed at least fifty rooms by now, and he still couldn't see the end of the corridor.

Nearly ten minutes later, there still wasn't any sign of it.

That was when Severus noticed a room that contained a _person_. A _kid_. Strapped onto a dental chair, with far too many tubes connected to him.

One of the cloaked people yanked him back when he'd inched closer towards the glass showing the inside of the room for a closer look, trying to see if he recognized the kid. He shot a nasty look towards the cloaked person, annoyed at the lack of response.

They started passing rooms that had labels on them. Severus grew further confused when he read a few rooms labelled '_Versipellem; Probatio'. _He wracked his brain, knowing the words were familiar to him.

_Werewolf._

Severus blinked as his mentally put a few pieces together.

_Versipellem is Latin for Werewolf._

Severus stared with wide eyes as he passed more labelled rooms, quickly scanning the labels on the doors or next to them. He swallowed as he took in the caution signs some had, how he couldn't see through the windows of some rooms, and the ones he _could_ see through had children strapped to chairs inside, varying from nearly Harry's age to nearly 18.

_Cobalus, Arafa, Lamia, Veela, Dryadalis-Domus, Apparatus._

_Goblin, Giant, Vampire, Human-Intelligence, House-Elf, Machine._

_What's going on?_

His mind swirled as he was led into a room and pushed down onto a chair.

Severus barely felt it when someone tightened the ropes on his arms, too dumbfounded. When one of them strapped his feet to the legs of the chairs, Severus let them. He looked up blankly when the cloaked people - _creatures, _he suddenly thought, _they could be something other than human - _left the room.

_Abominationum,_ He faintly thought. _They're creating monsters. By mixing blood. Using Muggle equipment._

_They're experimenting on children._

_The kids are probably here somewhere._

_They're going to use the kids as experiments._

Only then did he take notice of the red gas coming through the air vents. Severus deeply inhaled the odorless gas and closed his eyes slowly, slumping against the chair.

_Abominations. _

_Fuck._

* * *

**Real sorry for the lack of romance going on. My apology is this chapter. Hopefully it's good enough. Personally, I think it's filled with far too much intensity and shit and I think I might just have pushed the plot **_**far**_** too quick, but what can I say.**

**Does anyone know any good songs to listen to while writing? So far I'm trying all types of Nightcore ones and Martin Garrix.**

**And, would it be okay if I chose some Animagus and Patronuses myself? I've done some searching and I won't make it anything too typical (hopefully) and I'm open to any ideas. I might even make a few polls or something.**

**Thanks to the many Favoriters, Kudo-ers, Subscribers, Followers, and really, just the readers too. **


	22. Chapter 22

**Yooo, 'm back. At 7:36 in the morning. Without any sleep.**

**The things I do.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP.**

**Heh. I found a quote that suits me right now. Though I think it's off a tumblr post so.**

**_Sleep? That's optional. Writing? That's the reason sleep is optional. - I'm - a - writer - .com (without dem spaces.)  
_**

* * *

Draco blinked his eyes slowly open, only to have light flooded his sight. He winced and shut them on reflex.

"Welcome back to the world of living, Draco." He heard a familiar dull voice.

"Oh, Draco's awake. And we thought Hermione would wake up first."

_Yeah, that was definitely Luna._

Draco tried saying something, but quickly closed his mouth when nothing but a few squeaks came out. He glowered at the ceiling when he heard Harry snicker.

Luna sympathized with him. "Try coughing a few times, they all had the same problem. Mr. Thomas just woke up, he can't talk yet either."

Another voice came from behind him. "Really Luna, Dean is fine."

Draco did as Luna said and only to end up having a coughing fit. He heard a few alarmed voices. Managing to take a few deep breaths, he inquired about said 'Mr. Thomas' and 'they'.

"Dean Thomas, from Gryffindor. Remember?"

"Yeah," Draco said in a raspy voice to Harry, "I remember. How many people are here? Hermione's still not up?"

Harry's face loomed over his. "This room is filled with people from our year," Draco glared at him. "They were all kidnapped the same way as we were, apparently. And yes, Hermione's still asleep."

"…I'm strapped to a table."

"That you are, congratulations on finding that out."

Draco ignored the other voices. "Potter, I'm _naked."_

Harry grimaced. "Dude, no need to create an image for me, I can live without it. And you're not completely naked, we're all covered with this table-cloth type of dress. Except Luna, she's still wearing everything she was before."

"Why are _you_ not strapped onto a table?"

"Luna opened the locks. With her _air powers_. You're gonna havta wait for your turn though, she's opening Dean's right now. And then she'll have to rest a bit, or she'll pass out again."

While Luna took a quick break, Harry quickly told Draco everything that had occurred, from them being abducted, to meeting a guy who 'claimed to be Sirius's younger brother', to Luna being in a cage and 'escaping', and others starting to wake up.

"So far," Harry continued as Luna starting working on Draco's straps, "We have Dean, me, Luna, Lavender, Neville_, _and now you."

Draco looked around and rubbed his wrists after Luna unstrapped them.

"So only Hermione's still out."

"Um, no." Harry gestured towards a table nearest to the door. "We have that girl too, but no one knows who she is. The Griffins think she's from Hufflepuff, but they're not sure."

"Gryffindors." Lavender corrected him.

"Yeah, that."

Draco looked towards Hermione and did a double take at all the equipment attached to her. He stared at the heart rate monitor.

"Her heart beat-"

"Yeah, it's slow, we know. Even for someone who's sleeping. We don't get it either, but we can't do anything while we're in this room. We don't get why she and that Hufflepuff girl have more stuff on them than we do either." Harry turned towards Luna. "Think you can open Hermione's straps now?"

Neville spoke up. "Luna, if you can open the straps, can't you open the door?"

Everyone swiveled around to look at Luna. She stared back defensively.

"I _did_ try, but there's no lock. Nothing to push air into, and the door is sealed completely shut. I think that's why there are air vents in this room, or we wouldn't be able to breath."

They accepted her answer.

"So now what?" Dean asked what everyone had had on their minds.

Half an hour later, they had a newly introduced Hannah Abbot, who indeed, had turned out to be from Hufflepuff. Having scourged the room thoroughly – and finding nothing – they now lay scattered around the room, Hermione still out on the table. They all had learned more about each other in the past half hour than they ever did in their past three years at Hogwarts together, and none of them were willing to admit it.

Turned out Neville knew more about Muggles than he'd initially let on – "_Gran's a fan of Muggle stuff and she likes to collect what she can." _Lavender spilled a secret of hers and revealed she actually disliked Divination, and was only there because of Parvati Patil. Dean told them that he was actually Half-blood, and the rumors about him being a Muggleborn weren't true, and he could Fire-bend and he wasn't ashamed of it. That made Draco reveal he could Fire-bend as well, and the two had a small competition with it, careful not to set anything on fire.

Luna had let them all in on her powers and even showed them a few demonstrations, while Harry watched her proudly. Hannah admitted that she sometimes felt that she would've fit in better in Slytherin than Hufflepuff. Harry explained how he hated all the attention he got, and would really rather be some small bespectacled boy that no one payed attention to. He'd decided to leave the Earth-bending part out.

All the while, Hermione lay passed out and they all became increasingly concerned. Neville wandered towards the huge glass pane next to the door. He peered at it, hoping to see something – _anything -_ on the other side.

"No use," He mumbled as he plopped back down on the floor, "I still think it's a one way glass window."

Luna tilted her head thoughtfully. "Can we break it?"

They all stared stupidly at Luna for a few seconds. Harry and Dean were the first to scramble up.

"_Brilliant, _Luna, just _brilliant."_

Right that moment, Hermione's heartbeat skyrocketed.

* * *

Remus hissed when Sirius dug his elbow into his ribs as he tried to wrestle the Animagus away from the former Death-eaters. He pushed Sirius against a tree, his hands firmly on his shoulders.

"Sirius, _enough_."

"You don't know what she's _done," _Sirius said as he struggled against the werewolf, "What _they've_ done, they're monsters, they've killed innocents, they-"

"They've _tortured_ innocents, not just killed them, tortured to the point of _insanity_-" Tonks continued, struggling against _Dan_, who was holding _her_ firmly in place.

"They all deserve nothing but to be locked up and tortured like they did to others-"

"You _know_ what Peter did, Moony, you're a fucking _witness-"_

"Stop," Remus quietly ordered. "Dan, call Arabella and tell her to bring the van. That's the only way I can see us all going back intact, and we can't do anything to any of them," he said, motioning towards the still silent Bellatrix, her unconscious husband and the stunned Peter, "Not without Kingsley's permission. So just stop. Both of you."

Dan let go of Tonks and fumbled around his pockets for his mobile, dialing Arabella quickly, even though he was hesitant about her get too involved.

Remus turned to Tonks. "And I'm quite sure Kingsley wouldn't appreciate reading in your report about how you lost control and went against orders by killing criminals you have no permission to kill, so _please_ calm down."

Tonks closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Her flaming red hair dimmed to slightly lesser shade, but red nonetheless. She opened her eyes again and slumped against the tree.

"Okay," She said, trying not to shiver when she felt Remus's eyes on her, causing her hair to turn another shade closer to pink. "Okay."

Remus slowly let go of Sirius as well.

"Funny," Dan started. "From what I get, that-" He pointed at Bellatrix, who bristled at the way she'd just been addressed, "-is your _aunt,_ from your mother's side, right?"

Tonks nodded slowly, not sure if she knew what Dan was getting at.

"And _your_ cousin, am I right?" Dan asked Sirius, who also nodded slowly. Dan snickered as Arabella pulled up in his van, not five minutes later.

"So technically, relationship-wise," He began as he walked towards the van to open its doors, "Sirius is Tonks uncle."

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose, as Sirius and Tonks turned to Dan with stumped looks.

"I mean, how crazy is that?" Dan said to Arabella, who sat in the driver's seat of the van, watching them all with a mixture of bemused and wary.

"It's a small world." She agreed.

* * *

Severus looked around the room frantically, noticing with unmistakable relief that the red gas had finally cleared out of the room.

The red gas had caused him something akin to what he felt at a boggart – except, this may just have been worse, since instead of trying to frighten him, he'd had visions.

_Happy _visions. Visions he hadn't known his mind was capable of making up.

Visions he _really_ didn't want to remember, knowing how impossibly impossible they'd been.

Somewhere between the visions and the permanent red haze of the gas, he'd undone his ropes and was now on the floor.

_My wand, where is it-_

Not on his person, not in any of the relatively empty cabinets, not in broken bits either – Severus chewed his lower lip in worry. He glanced at the ropes that had been bound around his ankles and wrists a few moments ago and felt an idea forming. Severus latched onto the idea quickly, desperate to forget the visions.

He picked one up and walked to the door, only to throw the rope away from himself in disgust when he noticed the door had no handle.

Or lock.

Severus cursed and sat down on the floor, carefully looking around the room.

_I _refuse_ to be stuck in this room till somebody gets me. _

He grimaced.

If _anyone comes to get me._

Scowling at the large glass wall that the door was set in, he tried coming up with another idea. Having long since figured it was a one-way glass - which had fueled his already present anger from being kidnapped, knowing that there were probably people watching him as if he were some animal from the zoo – he wondered if the glass would break if he kept punching it long enough, as there was nothing in the room he could use instead.

Severus mentally put away a reminder to be kinder to animals on any kind of display from now on.

Deciding he might as well try breaking the glass, he cautiously approached the glass, carefully feeling for any harmful magic barriers. He was partly surprised to find none.

His surprise quickly turned to deep annoyance though, when the glass started to heat up when his hand was barely in inch away from it. Wrenching his hand away from the now smoking glass, he blew on his fingers to get the slightly burned areas to cool.

It was then the Potions Master noticed a white cabinet in the corner which he'd initially thought was either part of the room or a stool. However, as he now inspected it closely, he saw a very small hole that indicated a lock – it appeared as if it would only let a needle through itself.

_I have a needle._

Well, not really, but his _Terrae_ training could definitely help with that.

Fishing a horridly bent paperclip from his pockets, he concentrated on it, experimentally twisting it here and there. Then, holding it up, he sent a burst of sheer will through his fingertips into the clip.

Severus smirked triumphantly when the clip straightened.

Inserting it into the hole of the box, he was pleased it went straight through and did not require a few twists. There was a surprisingly loud click, and he paused, expecting an alarm to start blaring or something of the sort. Or worse, the red gas again.

Slowly opening the cabinet when nothing happened, he stared at the papers inside.

Not sure what exactly he'd been expecting, but knowing it hadn't been papers, Severus took them out carefully, noticing the lack of wrinkles and deciding they were fairly new. They didn't smell old either.

**Prisoner no.: 1**

Severus gaped slightly at the two words and unit in offense. Pushing away the feelings of bewilderment and annoyance, he forced himself to read on.

**Floor no. 1, room no. 11**

**Name: Severus Snape**

**Age: Unknown, late thirties**

**Occupation: Potions Professor at; Hogwarts, school of Magic (United Kingdom, London)**

Trying not to feel too unnerved, he quickly scanned through the rest of first paper, only a few things catching his attention.

**Blood status: Half-Blood**

**Bloodline: None**

**Immediate family: Son; Harry Potter/Snape? **

**Notes****: Blood test complete, rumors proved true.**

Severus blinked at that.

_We never did really discuss his name…_

He read on.

**Elementi: Uknown**

_Thank Merlin._

**Extended family: Not in contact/Dead**

_Ouch._

**Notes on Family: Son; experiment no. 387, floor no. 3, room 33.**

Severus froze. And unfroze. And proceeded to re-read the particular line a million times.

_He's here, he's somewhere here, the others are probably here as well – I need to get out, how-_

And suddenly Severus can hear Hermione's voice in his head from a previous conversation-

"_-some magical barriers can only be broken by very powerful magic. Which I don't think any of us have, yet. But in this book," Hermione waved it around a bit, "it says some can be broken by using a completely non-magical object. I haven't had any experiences with real barriers, the ones that actually stop you from going through. I've seen _Protego _in DADA classes_,_ but that only really stops the spells from passing through – anybody can still go through the shield. But, yes, the book clearly says that some barriers against bodies can be broken by a completely-clean-of-magic object."_

"_But Magical people don't carry around normal things," Harry has asked, scrunching his nose. "Right?"_

"_Which, of course, is the point, stupid-head," Hermione had replied, "Because, of course, hardly any of them carry stuff like that. On top of that, they can't even use their clothes, because when a person uses magic around stuff frequently, very minor sparks infuse into their belongings, making them into - ta-da - magical objects."_

Unable to think clearly due to the sudden rush of relief and the exhilaration of yet, another idea, Severus twisted the thin piece of metal away from the hole in the door of the cabinet and stood carefully in front of the glass, careful not to burn himself again. Still clutching the papers in one hand, he covered up most of his other hand with his sleeve, bringing the needle-shaped metal closer to the glass, praying this would work.

_What do Muggles say again? 'Third time's the charm'?_

The clip slowly sank into the barrier, looking as if it were sinking into a jelly-like substance. Severus, on closer inspection, noticed that the actual glass was actually very rather thin, and that it was the stupid barrier taking up all the thickness in between.

Carefully concentrating on the metal, he pushing the atoms inside it around, elongating the pin further.

The pin reached the glass through the sluggish substance. Severus barely noticed his singed sleeve and held his breath.

And, at once, the barrier evaporated. It _literally_ evaporated.

Severus blinked through the unexpected steam and stared at the thin glass through the fog. He held his sleeve against it and felt the area, surprised at feeling coolness instead of the barrier's heat. Freely touching the glass, he firmly knocked on it.

The glass had been far thinner than he'd thought.

He ended up slipping his shoe off and wearing it on his hand, before he broke down the rest.

_Of course they'd depend on the magic to hold the glass. Stupid Wizards._

He refused to admit he'd picked that insult up from Harry.

Five minutes later, Severus stood on the other side of the previously intact glass, yanking his shoe back on. He slipped the pin back in his pocket and checked his room number. He couldn't believe there weren't any guards.

_There was a considerable number of them when bringing me in. _He mentally huffed. Snape glanced back at the papers again.

_Room 11, floor 1. Harry's is room 33, floor 3. Two floors above me._

He inhaled deeply.

_Don't run into anyone, don't get caught, think of a plan only when you've found someone you can trust._

Severus looked around at the seemingly endless corridor.

He couldn't stop his groan.

* * *

**Well, there ya have it. I'm thinking about starting to edit this story, and I've seen what happens to author when that happens, but I'd like to anyway. Plot's going real slow, I know, but I'm trying. Dunno if I'll find time for the next chapter these next 30 days, but rest assured, I will definitely try. Now if only I'd get some more bloody inspiration and a just a handful of motivation...**

**Ta.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Edit: I'm posting this chapter again, 'cause around the time I originally posted this, this site was having a few problems, and even I couldn't view the chapter sometimes, so yeah.**

**(Next chapter is in progress, btw)**

* * *

**Thanks for the wait, guys.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry effing Potter.**

**Okay, for once I actually have something important to say. So, I've been reading present tense works, and I realized I've been writing this story as in a past tense way. There's a huge difference in them, and I caught myself more than just a few times writing in present tense. I changed them all back to past tense though, 'cause 'm keeping the story that way, but yeah. Just a heads up if somewhere a sentence might look awkward to you.**

**Congrats to anyone who bothered reading that, never mind understanding it.**

* * *

_**You write so beautifully **_

_**The inside of your mind must be a terrible place**_

_**\- Unkown**_

* * *

Remus screwed his eyes shut, praying to whatever God or Angel, or heck, _Merlin, _was listening up there, and prayed, really _prayed_ from the sincerest part of whichever organ was the most valuable to whomsoever paying attention, that he'd come out of this sane. Not everyone, no, just him.

A vein in his forehead jumped when Sirius opened his mouth again, no doubt ready to sprout out another dozen excuses as of why his cousin, her husband, and their ex-_buddy_ should be dead by now. And of course, Tonks was backing him up wholeheartedly.

The werewolf gave up on pretending he had even a sliver of patience left.

Dan and Arabella watched with muted silence when three minutes later, he walked back downstairs, having locked Sirius and Tonks in separate bathrooms, their wands in hand. Remus dropped them onto the table next to Peter's and walked towards the fireplace, ignoring everyone else in the room and tried to get a connection with Kingsley.

Dan cast Arabella a worried glance.

"You _will_ warn me not to get on his bad side, right?"

"…As long as you keep your cold feet to yourself in bed."

"But that's not fair!" He hissed back, "_You_ literally use me as a _hot bottle_ when you're cold!"

Arabella crossed her arms and gave him an amused stare. "Remind me who's carrying a baby again?"

"Oh, so that gives you privileges, huh."

"Obviously."

Dan huffed and dropped onto a chair. "You're evil and I don't like you."

Arabella rolled her eyes and turned to Remus.

"Kingsley sending more people?"

Remus sat down backwards on a chair and turned it around while sitting to face her. He breathed in deeply and avoided looking at their hostages.

"He's coming himself," He said after a couple of seconds. "This isn't just happening to us – he's been getting reports since the past _month_ from parents about their disappearing kids."

Dan frowned as Arabella abruptly sat down next to him. Remus seemed to hesitate before he spoke up again.

"And – again, it's not just _us. _About half a dozen _normal muggle _children were taken too. Kids are missing from Hogwarts, Durmstrang, that French school in Paris, the one in Mexico, Turkey, Australia – it's crazy. Total number of kids reported missing is getting 'damn near a thousand'. Or so Kingsley said."

They gaped at Remus.

"I'm sure he was exaggerating," He hurriedly assured them. "I _hope_ he was exaggerating."

"He'd _better _have been '_exaggerating'_."

Dan looked towards the stairs when they heard a loud bang from upstairs. He glanced cautiously at Remus.

"Should I go check on them, or…?"

Remus huffed through his nose. "He's an Animagus, and she's an Auror. They'll be fine."

"Sure, of course."

Silence overtook them for a while, the only noises coming from Bellatrix's fidgeting, Rudolphus's deep breathing and the occasional thump from upstairs. Arabella started to drum her fingernails on the table, immediately retracted her hand, thinking the sound too loud, and settled for twiddling her fingers instead.

Chewing her lip, Arabella turned to Remus again.

"So what do we do now?"

"Wait."

Dan's eyes drifted towards the ceiling at the sound of another thump.

"That's what we've been doing for the past two days." He sighed.

"Most have probably been waiting weeks for some news." Remus said quietly.

Dan refrained from giving him the stink eye.

* * *

Of _course_ Hermione would wake up as soon as they got a plan to get out, Draco could just imagine her sitting up immediately, telling them all the flaws in their plan, the cautions they should take, and _why the hell were they all so stupid? – _she probably would've said.

But no. Because things don't always go as planned.

Instead, she's writhing on her table, her head still strapped down to the table, thrashing her arms around, eyes wide open and -

Luna found herself very grateful that she hadn't opened all of Hermione's straps right now.

Harry and Draco moved towards her at once, standing on either side of the table, and Luna stood behind the table, hesitating before she put a hand over Hermione's eyes, not sure what else to do. Nevertheless, it seems to work, as Hermione's arms dropped and she took in a shuddering breath like someone was physically stopping her from breathing.

Slowly, Luna used her free hand to undo the strap around Hermione's head, which turns out to be a bit harder with just one hand, but hey, she's pretty proud of how quickly she's adapted to her so called _powers_, previous hatred of them pushed to the back of her mind somewhere.

Hermione was still breathing deeply, trying to take in more air than she was letting out. The rest of the rooms inhabitants look anxious, but the three weren't really sure what to say to them. Harry opened his mouth to say something, he's not sure what, but _someone_ needed to say _something,_ and thank God, Hannah and Neville's voices broke through.

"Is she alright?"

"I think she's gonna be sick." Dean muttered. Susan carefully wrapped a hand around Hermione's ankle.

"No shit, Sherlock." Harry said back without any real heat. He thought he vaguely felt Hermione pinch his hand and glanced at her face.

Luna made the mistake of moving her hand away from Hermione's eyes.

Hermione let out a whimper and clutched at the air like she wanted to hold onto something, and Harry and Draco slipped their hands into hers. She squeezed hard and continued to stare at the ceiling, gritting her teeth, and all they could think about at that moment is that she's clearly in pain, they can barely see the gold rings around her full blown pupils, she's deathly pale, and the heart monitor is still spiking like crazy.

And then Hermione wrenched her hands back and sat up abruptly, looking around with a crazed look. Her eyes went over Harry, Luna, and Draco slowly, barely acknowledging the rest, and then she moved to her fingers and slowly counted them, whispering the numbers under her breath.

Then_, _without any warning at all, she covered her ears, took in a loud breath, and screamed.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit," Severus repeated in time to the banging of his head on the wall.

"Fuck, _fuck _Sirius, _fuck_ red gases, fuck _machines_, fuck those cloaked _bastards_, _fuck_ _glass_-"

He grimaced as his foot literally screamed at him with pain.

_Never forget to triple check if a shoe has glass in it._

He kept himself from groaning loudly as he stood up gingerly, having removed the last piece of glass. Carefully setting his foot down, he hoped it wouldn't be too bad.

_But alas,_ Severus thought drily.

Nearly an hour later, Severus leaned heavily against a wall, sweaty and tired.

_There are no stairs, no fucking stairs at all._

Desperately looking around, he trudged towards a wall with metal doors. Cautiously poking around the two buttons on a panel next to the doors, Severus slowly moved his hands towards the metal doors and tried to pry them apart.

_What is with these people and having no door handles? _He thought irritably when the doors didn't budge. He didn't even bother trying to bend the metal, knowing he was in too much pain and far too fed up to concentrate. Punching the doors in defeat, Severus dragged himself towards the wall and slid down against it.

Five more minutes later, he marched over towards the doors again and slammed his fist against the buttons next to the doors in anger, immediately regretting the action when they lit up with a goldish glow. He stepped back in alarm when he heard scratching and groaning behind the door.

And then they _fucking slid open_ and Severus flattened himself against the wall, hoping he wasn't truly and utterly screwed.

_Did I change my will? _He suddenly thought frantically, _Or wait, everything will go to Harry anyway, but Sirius will be named his Guardian again the son of a bitch won't keep his hands off my vault- _He paused when nobody came through the doors and cautiously moved towards to look inside the room.

_Though admittedly, he wouldn't need it, the dog already has enough to last himself five lifetimes…_

He stared at the room – no, _box._

_It's a bloody _box.

Stepping inside carefully, he looked around to see if there might be more doors, and ran his hands on the walls.

He didn't see the metal doors shut until the elevator let out a _ding._

Severus slapped his hand against his forehead and sighed.

After realizing the compartment wasn't moving - he'd thankfully figured out he was in one of those things he's seen in a movie, the things that moved people up and down buildings; ellavitors, or ella something – he took out the pages that'd named him a prisoner and checked the room numbers again.

_It's in the thirties, so there must be a button with 3-0 on it…_

The buttons only led up to 9.

Severus glared at the paper and tried again.

_Thirties, so maybe 3? Which floor am I even on?_

The blaring '1' in red on the little screen above the buttons answered his question.

_Dammit, I didn't check my room number – I'll just go up every floor._

He glanced down at his foot.

_Or not._

He sighed and slid down again, putting the paper on the floor in front of him, willing it to go up in flames. Which, he admitted, wouldn't be a good idea as the ella-something might go up in flames too, and well, that wouldn't end well.

Still.

Squinting at the '33' that marked his son's room number, he stood in front of the numbers and stared down at them.

_Thirty three. It says floor number three._

Severus hesitated as his hand hovered before the button with a black '3' on it, a million 'what if's' running through his head. He frowned suddenly, his hand relaxing a bit.

_I hope Remus comes out of this sane._

His hand pushed lightly against the button.

* * *

Kingsley awkwardly stood with his hands up in a defensive position as Remus threw his arms around him.

"He literally has '_no homo'_ written over his face," Dan murmured. Arabella sniggered lightly.

Kingsley carefully removed Remus's arms from his form and slowly pushed him away, brushing his hands over his robes to straighten them again. He gave Remus a meaningful look that clearly said '_don't ever try that shit again',_ and when Remus beamed back, the man paused his shuffling and felt a touch of concern.

Remus caught the look and huffed out a laugh, clapping Kingsley on the back, completely ignoring the other people that had come as well.

"I'm completely fine, just really good to see you right now." Remus said, not entirely sure if it was the truth or not. "Anyway, there are your prisoners," He pointed to the three tied up figures, "And your Auror is upstairs, along with Sirius-" Remus and Arabella snapped their heads towards Kingsley.

"_Shit_."

Kingsley raised an eyebrow slightly, and gave them both a bemused look. He motioned to the others he'd brought with him to go the hostages, before turning back to Remus. "Lupin, you should know better than to assume _I_ wouldn't know where a _rogue_ _Animagus _would be staying. For the past _year_, no less."

Remus only offered him an abashed grin. "In my defense-" He blinked. "Um, wait, I actually have no defense other than he's my only best friend left, so you really can't blame me for not turning him in."

He thought he saw Kingsley's eye twitch as he stared at the hostages. Sighing through his nose, he turned back to Remus and glared a bit.

"Okay, okay," Remus muttered. "I'll let you know before I do something stupid next time."

Kingsley nodded slightly and motioned for someone to go get Tonks from upstairs.

"Where are the notes?" He suddenly asked.

Remus gave him a confused look. "Notes?"

Kingsley's eyes widened a fraction. "Yes, notes. The abductors did not leave any?"

"…No?" Remus ran a hand through his hair. "Merlin, the others got notes?"

Kingsley produced a few scraps of paper from his robes and held them out, only to have them snatched by Dan, who spread them around the table hurriedly.

"'_The Moon will love her.'"_ He read out with a stupefied expression.

Kingsley grimaced. "That one was for a girl from Beauxbatons."

"'_What comes to your mind when you think of what live in the mountains?'" _Arabella read from another one.

"Boy from Mexico."

"'_Screams of death.'"_

"Hogwarts."

"Who?" Arabella startled.

"Theodore Nott."

"'_How do you like red eyes?'"_

"Mexico."

"There are so many," Arabella whispered, "These aren't even all of them, are they?" Her eyes watered as Kingsley gave her the affirmative. "Oh my God."

Kingsley looked at them all with a harried expression, looking like he was barely refraining himself from curling up into a chair and staying there for a week. He rubbed a hand over his face, suddenly looking like he hadn't slept in weeks, brown eyes dilated more than usual.

"I'm going to go back with the team to make sure everything's secure. I'll be back in an hour." Heading towards the fireplace, he turned back around and gave Remus a piercing stare. "Do you know what day it is?"

Remus returned his stare with a clueless look. "No?"

"Today is _the full moon."_ Kingsley said slowly. "You _did_ know that, right?"

"…Totally." Remus said unconvincingly after a couple of seconds. Arabella winced on his behalf. Kingsley looked like he was torn between lecturing him and just saying 'fuck it'. He nodded to himself and left without looking back at any of them, pointedly avoiding Remus.

As soon as Kingsley was gone, the werewolf ran for the door that connected Arabella's house to Severus's and his, presumably headed for the cabinet of potions.

"Hey, Bella?" Dan suddenly spoke up.

Arabella plucked a tissue from the table and blew her nose before saying, "Yeah?"

"When this is all over and the kids are back-" Dan slid a small velvet box across the table, "Marry me?"

Arabella stared at the box, then looked at Dan.

"You- you do know there is nothing even _remotely_ romantic about this situation, right?" She said faintly. She glanced at the box again after Dan half shrugged, half grimaced. "I mean, you didn't even get down on a knee. Really, Dan?"

"I, uh, tried, really, but when I was practicing this morning about nearly after a month," He pouted when Arabella gave a watery chuckle, "My legs hurt. From not getting enough sleep or whether my muscles are just sore, I don't know, but I even broke the vase - _yes, that's _the reason the vase broke, Jesus, Belle – you know what I'm not even apoli-"

"Yes." Arabella said quietly. "Yeah, I'll marry you. Besides," She continued, gesturing towards her round tummy, "Might as well with the baby on the way, huh?"

The grinned stupidly at each other, the black box on the table forgotten.

"So," Remus said from somewhere behind them, "Is the wedding gonna be after or before the baby's born?"

* * *

**Ayyightie, there's your chapter, so sorry for taking so long with it, but you know, life interferes with – uh, life. But anyway. Here you go. Let me know what you thought, go eat some ice cream, if life's being mean, be the karma, stay awesome. And uh, suggestions on the kid-to-be-born? Not very sure about it yet…**


	24. Chapter 24

**HI. HEY. HOW IS YOU ALL. PLEASE PUT AWAY ALL SHARP OR POSSIBLE WEAPON-Y OBJECTS AWAY.**

…_**Don't**_** kill me for what I did in this chapter. And how late it's been. **

**It's gonna be worse next year, what with exams coming in the middle and then *horrified whisper* **_**university.**_

**So, mercy.**

**Points to anyone who gets **_**any**_** slight reference at all.**

_**And.**_

**I'm doing this thingy that kinda involves putting tumblr posts/references/headcanons and stuff into this story. So like. If anyone has any ideas (I'll have to know if I know them and shit tho), leave it in ya reviews. Thanks.**

**(First one (this chapter really only has one I think): Try Marvel (movies). Not the same scene at all, but if you're a fan, you'll get it.)**

* * *

_**Write hard and clear about what hurts – Ernest Hemmingway **_

* * *

"But you _do."_ Severus insisted calmly – _calmly,_ he couldn't believe how fast he'd recovered from seeing Sirius's dead brother after-

He didn't even know how many years.

Anyway, Severus was _totally_ calm, and even if he had fallen on his ass and nearly screamed from shock, no one had been around to see him other than one of his school friends –who was supposed to be _dead-_

_Stay calm, _Severus thought again, breathing deeply. _Calm is good._

Regulus, on the other hand, wasn't looking anywhere near _calm_.

"I. Do not. _Know_. You." He repeated, baring his teeth.

Severus squinted at him. "Why in Merlin's name are you showing me your teeth, that is something I _do not_ need to see right now, when was the last time you _brushed,_ fucking Merlin's- _anyway,_ again, yes, you do happen to fucking know me. How are you even alive? You've been dead for _years_."

Regulus stilled. "What?"

"You have been dead for nearly _ten fucking years."_ Severus repeated slowly, hoping he'd gotten the number of years right.

"But I haven't – how – I don't know-" Regulus swallowed. "Who are you?"

Severus cautiously took a step forward. "How about we see who the hell is screaming their guts out, and I'll tell you what I know?"

Regulus backed away slowly, and Severus walked past him quickly, entered the first room he saw, and promptly shoved his forefingers into his ears due to the increased volume of shrieking. He faintly registered Regulus collapsing behind him, and after deciding to ignore him, he pushed forward inside the room and scanned the group of children surrounding the source of the screaming – half on the floor clutching their own ears, the other half trying to stop the screaming of the kid on the table.

At first, the mop of black hair sparked hope that it was Harry, but on closer inspection – that involved pushing the children away and watching _them_ collapse as well – he recognized the black haired as one of his brats, yes, but as _Theodore Nott._

"What." Severus voiced out loud, stupefied. Three seconds of staring dumbly at the kid, Severus noticed he was _still_ screaming. He removed his fingers from his ears and snapped.

"SHUT THE _FUCK_ _UP_, THEODORE!_"_

Theodore's eyes flew open and he took in a shuddering breath, removing his hands from his own ears. He looked up at Severus from his hunched over position on the table with tears running down his face.

"Professor?" He asked in a cracked voice.

And see. _This_ was why Severus _hated_ kids, what with their watery eyes and hopeful expressions. _This_ was why he hadn't left Harry to rot in his crib the night Lily died. _This _was why karma loved coming back to bite him in the ass.

Ignoring his inner dilemma, he awkwardly stood at the side of the table, his hands hanging limply at his sides.

"Yes," Severus said, sighing through his nose, "It's me, Nott."

"Did someone die?" Theodore croaked, and Severus would've winced at his student's voice if he wasn't so surprised at the question.

"…No. Not that I know of, no."

Theodore just swallowed.

A hand dropped onto Severus's shoulder and he nearly jumped in surprise. He turned around and gave Regulus his best bitch face. Which went ignored, as Regulus turned around, apparently in favor of grabbing him and dragging him out of the room, only for Severus to realize there was still someone screaming from somewhere else in the corridor. He turned around to make sure Theodore hadn't started up again.

He hadn't.

"Theodore," Severus said hesitantly, "Don't start screaming again."

Theodore offered him a hazy smirk, seeming to have regained some of his dignity. "Sure."

"Go stop it, Sev'rus," Regulus said as Severus turned back to him, his words slurring a bit. He gritted his teeth and covered his ears again, while Severus stared at him in shock. "It _is_ Severus, right?"

Severus nodded slowly. "How did you remember that? Was it the screaming?"

Regulus shot him a frosty glare. "Go shut up whoever the hell is still screaming, will you?"

Severus started walking towards the screaming without realizing it. "Yeah, okay."

_Merlin, I fucking _hate_ my life._

Halfway to the room where he thought the screaming was coming from, he spotted the shards of glass near the door.

Carefully stepping around the glass, he looked through the empty space where the glass had been before the screaming had caused it to shatter, and felt himself sag as he recognized the kids inside as his own. Well some of them, anyway.

…_Wait, no, I only have one. _

"Severus!" He heard Regulus call from somewhere behind him, and he barely registered himself replying; "Yeah, yeah", deciding he'd worry about naming kids his when they weren't later.

He pushed against the door, scowling when it didn't open. When it didn't give way to his body either, he disregarded all health hazards and climbed through the broken glass window, and hopped over the glass littered around the room to get to the familiar bushy haired girl screaming blue murder.

Pushing away the overwhelming desire to look over everyone else in the room, he cautiously cradled Hermione's face in his hands, forcing her face up. She, like Theodore, had her eyes screwed shut, tears running down her cheeks, and hands clasped firmly against her ears. No amount of force could help Severus pry them away.

"My _God_," He heard Harry whimper from somewhere underneath the table, "_Please_ shut her up, my ears are _literally_ _bleeding, _and Draco and Luna actually fucking fainted, and _nothing_ we did stopped her-"

Drowning out Harry's voice, Severus focused on Hermione again, knowing he was going to pass out himself if she didn't stop soon. Finding her pulse point on her neck - and on second thought, her wrist as well - he pressed down hard.

The screaming stopped with a stuttered sigh and Hermione went limp.

Regulus's head popped from behind the door.

"Is she alright?"

Harry crawled out from underneath the table, dragging a slowly waking up Luna behind him. Both son and father glared at Regulus.

"Yeah, man," Harry snarked. "She only screamed for like, an hour, no breaks. She's gonna be just _peachy. _Freaking_ asshole_."

Severus found just enough energy to give Harry an approving look.

* * *

"We'll find them," Arabella murmured, lips brushing over Dan's jaw, "We _will_ find them, and we'll make sure every single bastard is put through hell, then throw them into washing machines until their skin is barely recognizable-"

Dan huffed out a laugh and wrapped his arms tighter around Arabella's waist.

"-And throw them off buildings and replace their insides with cotton and we _will find _them_,_ okay-"

The phone rang, Sirius walked in from the garage just in time to see them both launch themselves at it, Arabella snatching it away from Dan.

"Remus!" Arabella said with fake cheer. "Throw it at me!"

"_WEFOUNDTHEM."_

Dan and Sirius looked at Arabella with wide eyes, who in turn brought the phone in front of her face and squinted at it. She brought it back to her ear.

"Really?"

"_Yes, Godric above, we heard that a bunch of oldies at the beach saw a massive disturbance in the waves and ran for it. They called the authorities at once and thank god we had an inside man there at the time, so we looked into it and we found a _fucking building in the middle of the bloody ocean, _like some- some Azkaban copycat or- anyway, they're inside there. We know Sev is at least, since Tonks managed to cool off a bit to trace him there."_

Arabella didn't even realize she was crying until Dan gently took the phone from her and Sirius shoved the tissue box under her nose. Hastily blowing her nose, she refrained from rolling her eyes as Dan started to look increasingly frustrated.

"What do you _mean_? _I_ can't come? You do know they have my _daughter_, right? _Right_?"

Arabella wrenched the phone back.

"We won't come," She assured Remus. Ignoring Dan's indignant squawking, she confirmed that no, not even Sirius would be coming.

Sirius joined in with Dan's gaping.

"Right, yeah, okay. Yep, don't get into trouble, stay safe. 'Kay. Be careful."

Bella eyed both men after putting the mobile down.

"If you try to run, I _will_ know, and I _will_ make your lives hell. You," She said, narrowing her eyes at Sirius, "Are, yes, an Animagus, but even you can do so much without your wand, right? Right. And _you,_" Arabella jammed a finger into Dan's cheek, "Are a freaking _Muggle._ Ex-Muggle. Whatever. Point is, you are human through and through, and I will not, as _you will not either,_ risk _anything_. Oh, _and, _someone's gotta be here for when the kids return."

She stared at their sullen faces until she was satisfied, and got up to get a drink. Sirius smacked Dan on the head as soon as she was out of sight.

"You are a _man. _You are marrying _Godzilla."_

Dan retaliated by pinching Sirius's ribs. "What's your _point?"_

"You, comrade of mine," Sirius said, spreading his arms out, "Are officially fucked."

* * *

**OKAY SO THIS CHAPTER WAS_ DEPRESSINGLY_ SHORT, but I **_**really**_** couldn't add anything here without it getting weird, though I suppose I maybe could've, but **_**right now, **_**no. And I just needed to post **_**something,**_** so here. **

**Fire at me.**

**(Remember to leave any ref/headcanons/posts or shit in your reviews)**


	25. Chapter 25

**CHAPTER ****_TWENTY-FRIGGIN'-FIVE_****, (IN YA FACES, LOSERS), ****_CAN I GET A HALLELUJAH _****_PLEASE._**

**_Thank_**** ye. Aaaaaaaall of ye.**

***Wiggles eyebrows suggestively***

**I'm just gonna stop before I embarrass myself further.**

* * *

**_Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright - Aaron Sorkin_  
**

* * *

"Holy _shit."_

_"_Oh my _God_."

"Merlin's balls." Someone from within the crowd half-yelled in shock. "Are those bloody _helicopters?"_

More muttering.

"I thought they were some _fairytale."_

_"_Fuckin' purebloods." Harry muttered. He stumbled when Hermione leaned heavily on him.

"I'd resent that," Draco said slowly, "But even I can't say it's not true."

"I can't believe they told the police." Hermione said, purposely leaning more of her weight on Harry. "There's no way they'll ever be able to _Obliviate _all of them now." She lifted an arm so a shivering Luna could huddle closer. Luna gave Draco a hesitant grin.

"Your fangs make you look badass." She glanced at Hermione for confirmation. "I _think_ that's the word."

Harry actually _giggled. _Draco grinned, baring his newly acquired fangs. "Yeah, Lu, that's the word." He wrinkled his nose. "It still stinks like a gutter here, though."

Hermione looked around at the crowd, searching out their rescuers. "Guess calling the police _was_ necessary, seeing as we're stranded on an _island._ Speaking of, this island is more likely to collapse under everyone's before we all fit in the helicopters."

"There aren't even that many." A student complained, having overheard her. Hermione hummed in agreement.

"There's Remus." Draco said loudly between the murmuring of the crowd, pointing towards the sandy-haired man directing students and smaller children into helicopters. Harry waved hard and frowned when he wasn't noticed. A paramedic was wading through the crowd, passing out cloaks to everyone wearing hospital gowns.

"Can you see Bio Dad?" Harry asked, looking around again. Hermione snorted.

"Of all the things you could call Professor, it was _Bio Dad?_ Seriously?"

"Ooooh, I wonder if Sirius is here."

"Ugh," Hermione moaned. "We're supposed to be in _shock_. And we're not. Which speaks _so much_ for our lives."

"Why should we be in shock?" Luna asked, narrowing her eyes at a paramedic when he draped a blanket over her shoulders. "Doesn't that only happen when you've been through a traumatic experience?"

"Yeah, well. The Muggles don't know that. Or maybe it's just adrenaline, I can't even tell." Hermione squinted. "Oh my God, even the paramedics are Muggle. This is like- _my god, we're going to be revealed on the frucking TV."_

Harry paused and stared at her. "_Frucking?"_

_"_Don't give me that look, it was a slip of tongue, I'm _panicking." _She replied scathingly. "Besides, you think I'm _joking? _Look up, assbutt, those are people from _news stations_."

"I- _assbutt?!"_

"Shut up, you were watching _Supernatural_ with me."

"Well, look who's here," Draco drawled. "Harry's biggest fan."

Harry whipped his head around to look where Draco was pointing.

"Holy mother of the Winchester brot-"

"She burned, Harry."

"That's Rita _shitting_ Skeeter."

Hermione turned to look with wide eyes. "_Oh_ my ever-loving chocolate - is that Narcissa with her?"

Draco grunted when Luna scrambled onto his back to get a better view. "Oh look, they're fighting."

"_Seriously?"_

As they ventured closer, they could make out loud voices, as the women were a bit far off from the roaring of the helicopters. A small crowd had formed around them and were watching the woman scream at each other silently. They managed to reach the front of the crowd, just as Narcissa whipped out her wand from her coat pocket, brandished it something akin to a sword, and sent Rita flying onto the water surrounding them. Which resulted with a major portion of the crowd backing away from the seething woman.

Harry cast Hermione a sideways glance. "if you tried, you could take her out of the water, right?"

"I think the real question is whether or not I'd care enough. Even_ I_ don't have enough good in my heart to pull her out. You'd think after nearly five years you'd know how my mind works, but noooooo. Stupid head."

Luna frowned at her. "Are you sure you're alright? Your insults are get less creative by the second." She started again before anyone could answer. "Oh look, that woman looks like Hermione, even with her short hair, don't you think?"

Hermione stilled at the sight of said woman. "...Oh. Ahahahaha. Excuse me guys."

Luna let go of Draco's back. "I'd like to meet her mother." She skimpered off after Hermione.

"Aren't you going? Introduce yourself as her future son-in-law or something." Harry said, wiggling his eyebrows at Draco. "Or hey, maybe when we're back at Bella's, 'cause even I can see this isn't the best place to have a meet-the-parents dinn- Ow dude, what the hell?"

"Shut. _Up._ Fucking hell, I don't even know why I talk to you. Would _you_ like it if I shouted to Rita Skeeter that _Harry Potter_ is in love with _Luna Lovegood_ and he can't grow a pair and _kiss_ her?" Draco shot Harry a nasty smirk when Harry shut his jaw with an audible click. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"At least I told her how I _feel,_ jerk face." Harry muttered. Draco snorted.

"You and I both know that me and Hermione don't do feelings. Can you even _imagine_ us sitting and having a talk about you two, let alone our _feelings?" _He sighed when Harry made a face. "Exactly."

Harry punched Draco's arm lightly. "Fine, I'll let it go for now. But seriously, you _will_ have to talk about it, don't think it'll go away or something." He rolled his eyes when Draco glared. "Come on, your mom looks like she's gonna pull her hair out." After a second, he added, "And I'm going to tell her about your new swearing habit."

"I'll contact Luna's father and tell him your forcing yourself on his daughter, and we'll see who he'll believe, hmm?"

"Take a joke, Malfoy."

"Yeah, learn to make one, assh- why, _hello_ Mother, fancy seeing _you_ here."

* * *

Kingley's hands went for the side handle as the helicopter lurched again. He narrowed his eyes at the pilot, who was just barely holding himself from cackling.

"This was a terrible idea," Venusia Crickerly said, legs tight together and gritting her teeth. "I told you we should have just sent a few Aurors, and they could have pinpointed the location and we could have port ke-"

"Relax, Fruitcake, he's not gonna let us fall," Tonks grinned, enjoying the way the wind was roaring. "And no offense, but I don't think anyone would care if a certain few members fell anyway."

"Not that it'd matter with you guys," Their pilot snorted into his headset. "What with all the magic wands and shit."

Tonks flashed their young pilot a grin before hopping off the helicopter as they neared the ground, Kingsley and the other aurors getting off slowly, at a far too considerate pace.

"Chickens," She said loudly, smiling cheerfully. She looked around randomly at a few students, her eyes slowly narrowing as they landed on Remus, who was ushering the younger kids into helicopters. Face quickly losing all cheer, she stormed over to help him.

Tonks beamed at him, her features slowly morphing to take on Remus's face. "Hey, Fur butt."

To say Remus was shocked to see his face on a woman's body was quite an understatement.

"Do I know you?" He asked _very_ carefully, because he was quite sure he was dealing with a woman, and although he's only had about five or less women in his life, they'd all been _terrifying._ He winced as his own face turned murderous.

"Um?" Was his intelligent answer. Question, rather.

That seemed to turn his other's hair red, and that caused it to click.

"Tonks! Tonks, right? Sorry for locking you in the bathroom, I'm not really great at figuring out how to maintain people."

Tonks begrudgingly shifted back. "What gave it away?"

"You're hair was on fire when we dragging you to the bathroom."

Tonks seemed strangely mollified at that.

_I'll never understand women._

They worked in silence after that for a good half hour, separating people into age-wise groups, youngest going into helicopters first, along with the ones who needed medical attention.

"Do you want to make it up to me?" She asked suddenly.

Remus refrained from giving her a suspicious look. "Sure."

"Buy me lunch sometime."

That... was not what he was expecting.

"Um." He blinked when she busied herself with another few students. The first helicopters that had left were circling back now. Remus could see Kingsley getting into a helicopter, probably to check on the other side.

"I, um. I mean, yes. Yes, I'll buy you lunch sometime." _Please let the ground open up right now. _

But Tonks only grinned.

A teenage girl settled into her seat and leaned forward so only Remus could hear. "Good luck, Professor."

Remus felt slightly nauseous.

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**Okie dokie, this is way below my average number of words, but I had to post something, so. Here we are. **

**I have officially gone past 30,000 hits, and damn if that wasn't the highlight of my day. Thanks guys.**

**Also, a reviewer asked about something between Remus and Sirius, and I'm hoping that'll be explained in the next chapter or maybe the one after that, so if you could wait that long, that's be fab.**

**I still don't have any news about my laptop, so we'll see where I go from here.**

**Ja. **


	26. Chapter 26

**Edit: So I may or may not be thinking about removing this story. Feedback isn't that good I guess? This whole thing has started dwindling down, so. **

**(Don't kill me.) **

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**I still don't have my laptop back? I'm going crazy.**

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_**If a story is in you, it has got to come out - William Faulkner **_

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"-But as for now, no one will be allowed to leave these premises without permission from a group of ministry officials. All of your schools have been postponed to start next year, after Christmas holidays have passed, so there will be no need to worry about your studies at the moment."

Half the stadium snorted. Wendy (or was it Wilma? Nobody seemed to care) continued, unaffected.

"You all will be sorted into separate groups. In order to have this problem-"

"That's an understatement," Padma Patil muttered.

"-Cleared as soon as possible, we will need your full cooperation. Arguing with your caretakers will be unacceptable."

Harry's leg bobbed nervously as he scanned the crowd for Draco and Hermione. Luna flitted her hand into his and squeezed lightly.

At some point, Wanda(?) had stepped down and Kingsley had taken her place. A large portion of the audience reverted their attention back to the stage as he coughed lightly. Kingsley gave the microphone a hard glare before taking a deep breath.

"We are currently contacting all your guardians at the moment, through letters and stranger Muggle ways, as they are being found to be far more quicker and effective." He started.

"Due to unfortunate circumstances at present, the Ministry of Magic has elected to keep all schools closed for the next few months, and during that time, you will all be... for lack of a better word, studied. A group of researchers were being gathered since last week and are on their way now. We are unsure about how long you will be kept here."

A woman with a mop of curly blonde hair wearing black garb stood up from her seat amongst others behind Kingsley and walked over to him. Harry could see from even across the stadium that she walked with the aura of a leader, long strides and head held high.

Harry turned to Luna when he felt a flash of recognition.

"That's Hermione's mom?"

"Yes," Luna said in a mild tone. She was poking at their hands, seeming to differentiate them. Or compare them. Harry honestly couldn't see any similarities. Luna frowned at a barely visible white line on his palm and looked at him questioningly. Harry shrugged in reply and they both directed their attention back to the stage.

The woman - Hermione's mother - was walking back to her seat with an unhealthy amount of smugness on her face, having said what she'd wanted to Kingsley (who looked like he'd sucked a lemon). Harry squinted at the person sitting next to her.

Slouching sounded like a better word for it.

"Is that Hermione on the stage? Sitting next to-"

"Yes," Luna answered again, but with far more amusement. Harry glowered at her and she ran a thumb over the almost nonexistent scars over Harry's knuckles in apology and didn't ask this time.

From where they were sitting, they could see Hermione slouching on her chair, glaring at the whole stadium with the same type of firm determination they'd seen her use to ignore her father when Dan had kept Arabella's pregnancy from her. Which was impressive.

"Okay, so where's Draco?"

"He's not here."

"...How do you know that?"

"He left with his mother when we arrived, Harry."

Harry stared at her incredulously. "And you didn't think to mention it?"

Luna returned his gaze with raised eyebrows. "If you'd asked, I would have told you." She turned back to the stage. "Besides," She continued in her airy voice, "You now know where a majority of the people from school are sitting. That's an advantage, no?"

Harry sunk down in his seat. Luna patted his shoulder.

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Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose.

"No Dad, we don't get special leave."

"I do know how long four to five months are, yes."

"Nope, no breaks in the middle of the week."

"Dad! Kidnapping isn't an option!"

Harry tried to stifle his snorts when Hermione sent him a glare. Hermione let out a frustrated breath through her teeth when Dan started up again and thrust the device at her mother.

"You talk to him, heaven knows he ain't listening to me."

Jean smiled apologetically at the Auror she'd been talking to and put an arm around Hermione, digging her fingers into her waist.

"Watch it," Hermione snapped as soon as the Auror was out of earshot.

"Dan! To what do I owe-" Jean took a quick look back to ensure the Auror was no where to be seen and brought the mobile back to her ear with glinting eyes. "Listen jackass," She said furiously, "I have-"

Hermione sent her a bemused look.

"We," Jean amended, "Have enough problems already without you breathing down our necks, clear? Take your Baby Mama somewhere safe and make sure you two don't get kidnapped too, you hear?" Jean sighed as Dan spoke something back loudly. "Yes moron, you think I don't know how these things work? I've lived it, remember?"

Harry hadn't even noticed he was staring at the phone until Hermione snapped her fingers in front of him and gave him a squinted stare.

"You can hear him?" She asked suspiciously.

Harry's eyes drifted back to the phone. "Well yeah, he's speaking pretty loudly." He frowned at Hermione. "What, you can't?"

"Um, no? What's he saying?"

"He's having trouble believing that he and Bella will have to go into hiding."

"Huh." Hermione looked around the stadium and after a moment's hesitation, she pointed towards an Auror talking to a frantic group of second years a few dozen feet away. "What're they saying?"

"They're a bunch of muggleborns who want to contact their parents." Harry's eyebrows drew tight. "I shouldn't be able to hear that, right?"

"Yeah Harry, you shouldn't."

"I've read that the best of friends often point out each others flaws." Luna said, handing Harry a chipped bobby pin. "Although flaws are what make up a human, so I'm not sure what the point is. Clean your ears."

Harry made a face and threw it away. "Hell no."

"No, no, do it." Hermione urged. "I wanna see how far you can hear without all that shit in there."

"I hate you both."

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The Ministry of Magic had pulled a few strings and managed to empty out two inns, and by magic all 996 people had fit. Sure, they'd had to cram some people in, but it worked. Because magic.

It had been nearly 2 AM when Hermione was roughly woken up by Jean, a jacket thrown on her head, her mother's face looming over her. Hermione stared at her with wide eyes, willing her heart to slow down. Jean looked livid.

"What happened?" Hermione managed to breathe out when she caught her breath.

"Fudge fucked me over. Badly." She gave Hermione an intent look. "I have to run."

"Oh." Hermione looked over at Luna's sleeping form on the bed next to her. She sat up and tugged on the jacket. "Yeah, I'll come."

"I don't know how long it'll be. I can only guarantee that I'll bring you back in time for the holidays."

Hermione paused, her zipper halfway done. "What about communication? Will I be able to talk to Dad and everyone?"

"Dan, sure. The others-" Jean's gaze cut to Luna. "I'm not sure."

"Okay," Hermione said after a few seconds, mentally congratulating herself for not freaking out, "Lemme just write a note or something."

"Make sure you tell her to burn it."

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**I started two more drafts what the**  
**ANYWAY**  
**there you go**  
**Studies hectic I can't believe I actually managed to get this done in (exactly) under a month**  
**Hope it was satisfying**  
**(I'm posting this during class, sue me)**


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